Theo de Meester

Theodoor Herman "Theo" de Meester (16 December 1851 – 27 December 1919) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Liberal Union (LU) now merged into the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and economist. He served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 17 August 1905 until 12 February 1908.

His Excellency Theo de Meester
Theo de Meester in 1905
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office 17 August 1905 – 12 February 1908
Monarch	Wilhelmina
Preceded by	Abraham Kuyper
Succeeded by	Theo Heemskerk
Member of the Council of State
In office 24 April 1917 – 27 December 1919
Vice President	Wilhelmus Frederik van Leeuwen
Leader of the Liberal Union in the House of Representatives
In office 22 September 1913 – 30 March 1917
Preceded by	Hendrik Goeman Borgesius
Succeeded by	Eduard Ellis van Raalte
Member of the House of Representatives for Den Helder
In office 9 May 1910 – 30 March 1917
Preceded by	Zadok van den Bergh
Succeeded by	Pieter Oud
Minister of Finance
In office 17 August 1905 – 12 February 1908
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Jan Harte van Tecklenburg
Succeeded by	Maximilien Kolkman
Personal details
Born	Theodoor Herman de Meester 16 December 1851 Harderwijk, Netherlands
Died	27 December 1919 (aged 68) The Hague, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	Liberal Union
Spouse(s)	Josina Parker ​ ​ (m. 1881; his death 1919)​
Children	2 sons and 1 daughter
Alma mater	Utrecht University (Bachelor of Laws, Master of Laws)
Occupation	Politician · Civil servant · Economist · Accountant · Nonprofit director · Editor · Author

De Meester was the son of Gerrit Abraham de Meester (1817–1864), who had been a member of the House of Representatives for the Zwolle constituency from 1862 to 1864. A former administrator in the Dutch East Indies, De Meester's cabinet was inaugurated on 17 August 1905. It consisted of five Liberal, two Free-minded Democratic, and two non-partisan ministers. It had no majority in either of the two Dutch chambers, and earned the nickname "Porcelain Cabinet". His government first resigned in December 1906, when the defence budget for 1907 was rejected by the Senate. That resignation was refused by Queen Wilhelmina, but the government fell in December 1907, when the Dutch parliament disapproved the defence budget for 1908. The government remained as a demissionary government until 12 February 1908.

References

• "Mr. Th.H. de Meester". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 25 May 2019.