Hans Janmaat

Johannes Gerardus Hendrikus "Hans" Janmaat (YAHN-maht; 3 November 1934 – 9 June 2002) was a Dutch businessman and politician of the far-right Centre Party (CP) who later founded the Centre Democrats (CD).

Although he was widely known, he was never a major force in the Dutch political landscape, partly because of a cordon sanitaire imposed by Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers's third cabinet.

Biography

Early life

Johannes Gerardus Hendrikus Janmaat was born on 3 November 1934 in Nes aan de Amstel in North Holland, as the oldest of nine children in a traditional Roman Catholic family. His father was a salesman and insurance broker. When Janmaat was 4 years old, the family moved to Gouda, where it would endure the war years in relative peace. After graduating in 1954, Janmaat started a study in aeronautical engineering, but had to drop out two years later after his father could no longer afford the tuition fees. Having to give up his studies to work was the first of many setbacks he would often refer to later in life.

In 1966 he married Belgian Evi Hock, having met her while working in Germany. In 1979, they divorced. In 1996, Janmaat married Wil Schuurman. No children were born in either marriage.

In the early 1960s, Janmaat ran a furniture factory with two of his brothers, but it burned down in 1966. He used the insurance payout to study politicology at the University of Amsterdam. Fellow-students found him ambitious, provocative and witty. In 1969, he participated in the occupation of the Maagdenhuis, the university's administrative center, as part of a student protest. He completed his studies in 1972.