Pieter Lieftinck
 Pieter Lieftinck      (businessman, academic, politician) | ||||||||||
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| Born | Pieter Lieftinck September 30, 1902 Muiden | |||||||||
| Died | 1989-07-09 (Age 86) The Hague | |||||||||
| Nationality | Dutch | |||||||||
| Alma mater | Le Rosey, Utrecht University, Columbia University | |||||||||
| Party | Christian Historical Union, Dutch Labour Party, Democratic Socialists '70 | |||||||||
Dutch politician who worked for the World Bank and IMF. Attended the February 1957 Bilderberg Meeting
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Pieter Lieftinck was a Dutch politician. After seven years as Minister of Finance just after World War 2, he started working for the IMF and World Bank.[1] He attended the 1957 Bilderberg meeting.
Contents
Education
Piet Lieftinck did his primary education in Utrech as well as an international boarding school in Rolle in Switzerland. He studied Dutch law atUtrecht University from 1919 to 4 October 1927. He then studied economics at Columbia University in New York from 1929 to 1930.[2]
Early career
He began his career as a civil servant at the Ministry of economic affairs, from 1931 to 1933. From 20 May 1933 to October 1934 he was Secretary of the Economic Council of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Then, from 1934 to 1945, he was employed as a professor of economics at the Nederlandsche Handels-Hoogeschool in Rotterdam.[2]
During the Second World War he was interned by the Germans as a hostage in camp Sint-Michielsgestel. There, he worked with other politicians on ideas of a new political constellation after the war.[2]
Minister of Finance 1945 to 1952
On 25 June 1945, Lieftinck was appointed by Prime Minister Willem Schermerhorn as Minister of Finance. He also held this ministerial post in the first cabinet of Prime Minister Louis Beel, as well as in the Drees/Van Schaik Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Willem Drees, and in the first Drees Cabinet until July 1, 1952. In February 1946, he joined the Dutch Labour Party (PvdA), also a member of the Second Chamber of the States General, to which, however, he belonged for just under a month until July 8, 1946. Later, on July 27, 1948, he became a member of the First Chamber of the States General, but due to the existing ministerial office, he was also a member only briefly until August 11, 1948.[2]
In his function as Minister of Finance, Lieftinck was significantly involved in the reconstruction in the period after the Second World War and in the reorganization of the financial and monetary policy of the state. During the Indonesian War of Independence, the Netherlands was under considerable financial pressure in 1947. Lieftinck warned of an imminent collapse of the Dutch-East-Indies finances, and after that the finances of the Netherlands itself. He was in favor of withdrawing the troops from the archipelago. The alternative was a "limited military action", with which the Netherlands would secure the production facilities on Java and Sumatra and at the same time demonstrate its power.[2]
International financial institutions
After completing his term as Minister of Finance, Lieftinck became the representative of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development IBRD for the countries of Turkey, Syria and Jordan, based in Ankara, on July 1, 1952. He held this position until October 1, 1955.[2]
Subsequently, he became a Executive Director (1 out of 25) of the World Bank on October 1, 1955 and held this position until May 1, 1971. At the same time, he also was Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. from October 1, 1955 to December 1976.
Since 1956 he was a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences.
Lieftinck was married twice. His marriage to Henriëtte Clasine Aldershoff, which was concluded on 14 March 1932 and dissolved on 20 April 1954, produced three daughters. He had another daughter from his second marriage to Elsa van der Voort van Zijp in Beirut on 4 May 1954.
Event Participated in
| Event | Start | End | Location(s) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilderberg/1957 February | 15 February 1957 | 17 February 1957 | US St Simons Island Georgia (State) | The earliest ever Bilderberg in the year, number 5, was also first one outside Europe. |
