Eelco van Kleffens

In thisDutch name,thesurnameisvan Kleffens,notKleffens.

His Excellency Eelco van Kleffens
Van Kleffens in 1945
Permanent Representative of the Netherlandsto theECSC
In office 1 May 1958 – 10 December 1967
Preceded by	Unknown
Succeeded by	Unknown
Permanent Representative of the NetherlandstoNATOand theOECD
In office 1 December 1956 – 1 May 1958
Preceded by	Unknown
Succeeded by	Unknown
President of the United Nations General Assembly
In office 1 January 1954 – 31 December 1954
Preceded by	Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit
Succeeded by	José Maza Fernández
Ambassador of theNetherlands toPortugal
In office 1 January 1950 – 1 May 1958
Preceded by	Unknown
Succeeded by	Unknown
Ambassador of theNetherlands to theUnited States
In office 1 July 1947 – 1 December 1956
Preceded by	Unknown
Succeeded by	Unknown
Permanent Representative of the Netherlandsto theUnited Nations
In office 17 January 1946 – 1 December 1956
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Unknown
Minister for United Nations Affairs
In office 1 March 1946 – 1 July 1947
Prime Minister	Willem Schermerhorn(1946) Louis Beel(1946–1947)
Preceded by	Herman van Roijen
Succeeded by	Joseph Luns(1952)
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 10 August 1939 – 1 March 1946
Prime Minister	See list Dirk Jan de Geer (1939–1940) Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (1940–1945) Willem Schermerhorn (1945–1946)
Preceded by	Jacob Adriaan Patijn
Succeeded by	Herman van Roijen
Personal details
Born	Eelco Nicolaas van Kleffens (1894-11-17)17 November 1894 Heerenveen,Netherlands
Died	17 June 1983(1983-06-17)(aged 88) Almoçageme,Portugal
Spouse	Margaret Horstman ​ (m.1935)​
Alma mater	Leiden University (Bachelor of Laws,Master of Laws) Erasmus University Rotterdam (Bachelor of Economics)
Occupation	Politician·Diplomat·Civil servant·Jurist

Eelco Nicolaas van Kleffens(17 November 1894 – 17 June 1983) was a Dutch politician and diplomat.

Biography

Eelco van Kleffens descended from an oldFrisianfamily of public servants. He was the son of Henricus Cato and Jeannette Frésine (Veenhoven) van Kleffens. His younger brotherAdrianus van Kleffenswould later become a judge at theEuropean Court of Justice.He married Margaret Helen Horstmann on 4 April 1935.

After receiving aDoctor of Lawsdegree fromLeiden University,van Kleffens worked in the Secretariat of theLeague of Nations.He became secretary to the Directorate of Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. in 1920. He was appointed Assistant Director of the Legal Section of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1922 and of the Diplomatic Section in 1927, becoming Director of the latter in 1929. In the early 1930s he was also Secretary-General ofThe Hague Academy of International Law.

Van Kleffens was appointed theMinister of Foreign Affairsin 1939, weeks beforeWorld War IIbegan, and was part of theDutch government in exileover that period. During the war he penned an account of the German invasion namedJuggernaut over Hollandwhich was circulated within the occupied territory, and he was also one of the original signatories of theBeneluxunion.

Van Kleffens held the position of foreign minister until theSchermerhorn–Drees cabinetof 1946. Following his resignation from the ministerial position (but not from the cabinet) van Kleffens became the Netherlands' representative on theUnited Nations Security Council,and in 1947 was appointed the ambassador to the United States. In 1950 he became the ambassador toPortugal,and was bestowed the title ofMinister of State,a prestigious honour.

In 1954 van Kleffens was appointed to the position ofPresident of the United Nations General Assemblyfor that body'sninth session.

Van Kleffens was the Dutch representative atNATOand theOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Developmentfrom 1956 to 1958, and at theEuropean Coal and Steel Communityfrom 1958 until 1967, after which Van Kleffens retired toPortugal,where he died on 17 June 1983.

Decorations

Honours
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Grand Officerof theLegion of Honour	France	12 February 1948
	Knight Grand Crossof theOrder of Orange-Nassau	Netherlands	30 April 1949	Elevated from Grand Officer (1 March 1946)
	Grand Crossof theOrder of Merit	Portugal	1 October 1954
	Commanderof theOrder of the Netherlands Lion	Netherlands	1 May 1958	Elevated from Knight (15 July 1931)
HonorificTitles
Ribbon bar	Honour	Country	Date	Comment
	Minister of State	Netherlands	4 July 1950	StyleofExcellency

External links

Official

• (in Dutch)Mr. E.N. (Eelco) van KleffensParlement & Politiek