Sidney J Van Den Bergh

Dutch businessman, financier and politician of the liberal VVD party. Van den Bergh came from a Jewish family of politicians and entrepreneurs. His grandfather, Simon van den Bergh , was the founder of Margarine Works Van den Bergh in 1888, from which, after merging with other companies, the multinational Unilever was raised in 1930. His father Samuel van den Bergh was a member of both the Second Chamber and the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. His elder brother George van den Bergh was also a member both houses of Dutch Parliament. His uncle Zadok van den Bergh was a member of the Second Chamber as his nephew Robbert van den Bergh was a member of the Council of State ( Raad van State). After visiting the public Erasmus Gymnasium of Rotterdam from 1916 to 1918, he became reserve lieutenant of the Dutch army. He then studied economics at the Dutch Economic College of Rotterdam (Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool) in July 1918, but left the higher education without a degree in 1922. During his studies, he completed an internship as an examiner in the family Margarine Works Van den Bergh and already took over the position of director of the van den Bergh's Soap Works in Zwijndrecht as a student, before he became director of the Margarine Works Van den Bergh from 1920 to 1926. At that time, he also joined the former Vrijzinnig Democratic Bond (VDB), to which he belonged until 9 February 1946. During this time he was also treasurer of the VDB city council of Rotterdam since 1920. In addition, he was a member of both the Chief Executive and the Executive Board of this party from 1 December 1929 to November 1933. In 1926 he became director of Lever Brothers, and after the fusion with Unilever from 1929 to May 1959, he was a member of the board of directors of this multinational. He also has been a member of the Continental Committee of NV Unilever in London since 1929. Shortly before the beginning of the Second World War , van den Bergh was mobilized as the main man, and since August 1939 he had been responsible for the provision of food for the provision of special services. He was also entrusted with the recruitment of Dutch soldiers in Canada and assumed the position of military ambassador to the United States in the United States, before he was temporarily Chief of the Reserve (Koninklijke Landmacht) in 1944 as Colonel of the Reserve. In September 1945, he was appointed Generalmajor of the Reserve of the Army and the purchase of military goods in Canada. Afterwards, he was commissioned from 1 November 1945 to May 1946 to reorganize the office of the General Marshal in the Netherlands . For his merits during the Second World War, on September 17, 1946, the Knight's Cross of the Order was awarded to him by the Dutch Lion . In 1951 he became treasurer and member of the executive committee of the VVD and exerted this function until May 1959. On 19 May 1959, van den Bergh, who had been a member of the People's Party of Vrijheid en Democratie (VVD) since 1948, was appointed Minister of Defense in De Quay Cabinet. However, he had to resign from office on 1 August 1959, after the public became aware that he had a relationship with a married woman. On 7 September 1959, his successor became Sim Visser after Minister-President de Quay temporarily held this position. After his retirement from the government, van den Bergh was a member of the Executive Board from 1 September 1959 to 1961, and subsequently from 1961 to 1 January 1964, Deputy Chairman of the Board of NV Unilever and Unilever Ltd. He also began to engage politically again, from 1960 to May 1969 as treasurer and member of the VVD executive board, as treasurer of the Stichting Vrijheid en Democratie Foundation. He was also the treasurer of Hendrik Coenraad Dresselhuijs , a vice-chairman of the Propaganda Commission and the Radio and Television Commission of the VVD, as well as a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission and the VVD Press Commission. Furthermore, he was a member of the Parliament (Provinciale Staten ) of the province of South Holland between 24 January 1962 and 3 June 1970. He was also a member of the First Chamber of the States-General on 17 September 1963 for the VVD, to which he belonged until 10 May 1971. He was also active in local politics, and from 6 September 1966 to 1 September 1970 he was a member of the municipal council of Wassenaar. At the same time, he was also an alderman for Wassenaar's finance, municipalities and public works. For his many years of service, he was also appointed commander of the order of Oranien-Nassau on 16 October 1968. Van den Bergh married five times. He had five sons and two daughters from his first four marriages. Link to German Wikipedia