Johan van Hulst

Johan van Hulst
Van Hulst in 1980
Leader of the Christian Democratic Appeal in the Senate
In office
8 June 1977  10 June 1981
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJan Christiaanse
Leader of the Christian Historical Union in the Senate
In office
10 December 1968  8 June 1977
Preceded byJ. C. Bührmann
Succeeded byOffice abolished
Chair of the Christian Historical Union
In office
5 October 1968  19 February 1972
LeaderJur Mellema (1968–1970)
Berend Jan Udink (1970–1971)
Arnold Tilanus (1971–1972)
Preceded byArnold Tilanus
Succeeded byOtto van Verschuer
Senator of the Netherlands
In office
3 July 1956  10 June 1981
Member of the European Parliament
In office
16 October 1961  30 September 1968
ConstituencyNetherlands
Personal details
Born
Johan Willem van Hulst

(1911-01-28)28 January 1911
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died22 March 2018(2018-03-22) (aged 107)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Political partyChristian Democratic Appeal
(from 1980)
Other political
affiliations
Christian Historical Union
(1945–1980)
SpouseAnna Jannetta Donker (m. 1936–1998; her death)
Children4 children
Residence(s)Amsterdam, Netherlands
Alma materVrije Universiteit Amsterdam
OccupationPolitician, author, teacher, pedagogue, professor

Johan Willem van Hulst (28 January 1911 – 22 March 2018) was a Dutch school director, university professor, author, politician, chess player and centenarian. In 1943, with the help of the Dutch resistance and students of the nearby University of Amsterdam, he was instrumental in saving over 600 Jewish children from the nursery of the Hollandsche Schouwburg who were destined for deportation to Nazi concentration camps. For his humanitarian actions he received the Yad Vashem distinction Righteous Among the Nations from the State of Israel in 1973.

Van Hulst served as Senator of the Netherlands from July 1956 to June 1981. He was elected to be the parliamentary leader of the Christian Historical Union (CHU) in the Senate from December 1968 until June 1977, when the CHU merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He then became the first CDA Leader in the Senate. Van Hulst previously served as the party chair of the CHU from September 1969 until February 1972. He also was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Christian Democratic Group from October 1961 until September 1968.

He later was an emeritus professor of pedagogy at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a prolific author with more than a hundred publications. He was also a noted chess player.