Pieter van Vollenhoven
van Vollenhoven in 2011
Born (1939-04-30) April 30, 1939
Schiedam, Netherlands
Alma materLeiden University
OccupationEmeritus Professor
Organization(s)Dutch Transport Safety Board
Dutch Safety Board
TitleMaster of Laws
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1967)​
ChildrenPrince Maurits
Prince Bernhard
Prince Pieter-Christiaan
Prince Floris
Parent(s)Pieter van Vollenhoven Sr.
Jacoba Gijsbertha Stuyling de Lange

Pieter van Vollenhoven Jr. (born April 30, 1939) is the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and a member, by marriage, of the Dutch royal house.

Early life and career

Van Vollenhoven was born in Schiedam, he is the second son of Pieter van Vollenhoven Sr. (1897–1977) and his wife Jacoba Gijsbertha Stuylingh de Lange (1906–1983). The van Vollenhoven family and the Stuylingh de Lange family belong to the Dutch patriciate.

Van Vollenhoven attended secondary school in Rotterdam, and he subsequently studied law at the University of Leiden. He graduated in 1965, after which he worked as a legal officer for the Netherlands Council of State. In 1966, he performed his military service with the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and attained a military pilot license the following year.

Current positions

Van Vollenhoven is currently best known in the Netherlands for having been the chairman of the Dutch Safety Board from which he retired in February 2011. He was originally appointed chairman of the Road Transportation Safety Board and the Rail Incident Board by minister Tjerk Westerterp. Following the Bijlmer and Hercules disasters, a need was felt in The Netherlands for a single body to investigate all transportation-related incidents; the Transportation Safety Council (Dutch: Raad voor de Transportveiligheid) was created, which incorporated the earlier Road Transportation Safety and Rail Incident Boards and also had Van Vollenhoven as chairman. Van Vollenhoven felt, however, that the country should have a single board to investigate all safety-related issues; lobbying on his part finally convinced the government to transform the Transportation Safety Council into a general Safety Board, of which Van Vollenhoven was made the first chairman.

Due to his expertise in the area, the University of Twente made Van Vollenhoven a professor on October 1, 2005. He holds the policy research chair, which is a subspecialty of the risk management group. He held his oration on April 28, 2006, and called for the creation of a Minister of Safety at that time.

In 1989, Van Vollenhoven took the initiative in setting up the Dutch Victim Support Fund, of which he is also the chairman. He is also chairman of the Nationaal Groenfonds, the National Restorationfund and the Society, Safety and Police Association and the International Transport Safety Board. He is a member of the European Transport Safety Council.

Notable acts

As Chairman of the Safety Board, Van Vollenhoven oversaw the investigation of the Schipholbrand, a fire in a holding facility for illegal immigrants in The Netherlands. He presented a final report on September 21, 2006, with such devastating findings that ministers Piet Hein Donner and Sybilla Dekker resigned over it. A third responsible minister, Rita Verdonk refused to resign despite her responsibility in the matter.

Following the Turkish Airlines Flight 1951 crash, Van Vollenhoven led the investigation by the Safety Board. This investigation brought him into conflict with the Office of the Attorney General, which requested access to the black box data. Citing that there was no reason at that time to suspect foul play and that the Board investigation would be hampered by the threat of legal action against persons, Van Vollenhoven absolutely refused this access.[1]

When he turned 70, Barry Sweedler (of the US National Transportation Safety Board) said to him: "The world is a safer place because of your work and leadership".

Hobbies

Van Vollenhoven is an avid pianist. In 1986 he formed a trio – De Gevleugelde Vrienden – with two of the country's leading pianists (Pim Jacobs and Louis van Dijk) and gave some twenty concerts a year both at home and abroad in aid of the Victim Support Fund. De Gevleugelde Vrienden were awarded four gold discs. Since the death of one of the members of the trio, Pim Jacobs, Van Vollenhoven has continued to give concerts with pianists Louis van Dijk and Koos Mark.

Van Vollenhoven is still an active pilot and he also dives. He almost lost the tip of his right index finger during a dive in 2005, when he got caught between the boat and the dock steps. Doctors were able to reattach the tip.

He is also a photographer. The Victim Support Fund raised money in 2008 and 2009 by selling calendars with his photographs.

Health

Van Vollenhoven was diagnosed with a Melanoma, a common type of skin cancer, in May 2017. He had it removed at the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam.[2] In November that same year, he was diagnosed with another Melanoma and had it removed.[3]

Marriage and family

Van Vollenhoven married Princess Margriet of the Netherlands at The Hague on January 10, 1967, in the St. James Church. This made him the first member of the Dutch Royal House being a commoner and not of royal or noble origin. He was not given any royal titles as a result of the marriage and is therefore formally addressed as "Mister Van Vollenhoven" or by his professional title as "Professor Van Vollenhoven".

The couple went to live in Het Loo House, near the Het Loo Palace. They have four sons:

The German house name Lippe-Biesterfeld is borne by the children of Prince Maurits (making them Van Lippe-Biesterfeld van Vollenhoven); his other (grand)children are just van Vollenhoven.

Honours and awards

Coat of arms

Van Vollenhoven received numerous honours and awards in the Netherlands but also internationally:[4]

Netherlands honours and decorations

  • Grand Cross of the Order of the House of Orange (January 10, 1967)
  • Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Netherlands Lion (April 29, 2004)
  • Wedding Medal of Princess Beatrix, and Claus von Amsberg
  • The Netherlands Coronation Medal 1980
  • Medal visiting Netherlands Antilles 1980
  • Royal Wedding Medal 2002
  • Officer's Long Service Decoration (The Netherlands), with Roman numeral XX
  • King Willem-Alexander Inauguration Medal 2013

Foreign honours and decorations

Honorary citizenship

On June 12, 2004, he was made an Honorary citizen of the town of Vollenhove.

References

  1. ↑ Editorial board (February 28, 2009). "Van Vollenhoven geeft zwarte dozen niet af". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
  2. ↑ "Melanoom vastgesteld bij prof. Mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven - Nieuwsbericht - Het Koninklijk Huis". May 30, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Melanoom vastgesteld bij prof.mr. Pieter van Vollenhoven - Nieuwsbericht - Het Koninklijk Huis". November 15, 2017.
  4. ↑ Onderscheidingen van de koninklijke familie – website Alles op een rij
  5. ↑ Staatsbanket op kosten van Willem-Alexander: foto's en weetjes - website of the VRT, the national public-service broadcaster for the Flemish part of Belgium
  6. ↑ Monitor Polski, Warsaw, July 26, 2012 - Official Journal of the Republic of Poland
  7. ↑ Poolse onderscheiding voor voorzitter SMVP - website Stichting Maatschappij en Veiligheid
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