Louis van de Laar


Louis Josephus Maria van de Laar was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal and historian.

Education

Van de Laar attended the minor seminary in Sint-Michielsgestel and subsequently the in 's-Hertogenbosch. In 1939, he started studying at the Radboud University Nijmegen, where he obtained master's degrees in history and economics in 1947. He continued his studies in history from 1945 to 1946 at the Sorbonne and École pratique des hautes études.

Career

After finishing his studies, van de Laar became a history teacher and then rector at several secondary schools. From 1963 to 1965, he was state secretary at the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science in the Marijnen cabinet for the Catholic People's Party. Through this function, he became one of the founders of the Dutch Language Union.
In October 1965, he became mayor of Bergen op Zoom, where he remained until his retirement in 1981. During his mandate he succeeded in enticing Philip Morris and General Electric Plastics to build large production centres in Bergen op Zoom and initiated the restoration of the city palace, the.

Awards

Van de Laar received the following awards: