19 Facts About Piet Lieftinck

Pieter "Piet" Lieftinck was a Dutch politician of the Christian Historical Union party and later the Labour Party and economist.

Piet Lieftinck served in the Royal Netherlands Army as a lieutenant from November 1927 until November 1928.

Piet Lieftinck applied at the Columbia University in New York City in April 1929 for a postgraduate education and obtained a Master of Financial Economics degree in December 1930 and later returned to the Utrecht University where worked as a researcher and got a doctorate as a Doctor of Philosophy in Public economics on 10 December 1931.

Piet Lieftinck worked as civil servant for the Ministry of Labour, Commerce and Industry from August 1931 until May 1932 and for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour from May 1932 until June 1933 and the Ministry of Economic Affairs from June 1933 until October 1934 as Director-General of the department for General Economic Policy from June 1933 until October 1934.

Piet Lieftinck worked as a professor of Public economics at the Erasmus University Rotterdam from 11 October 1934 until 30 March 1940.

Piet Lieftinck served in the military reserve force of the Royal Netherlands Army and was mobilized in March 1940.

Piet Lieftinck fought in the Battle of the Netherlands and the Battle of France and was captured following the capitulation and detained in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel from October 1940 until he was transferred to Haren in November 1940 and was transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp in April 1941 and was released in January 1943.

On 9 February 1946 the Social Democratic Workers' Party, the Free-thinking Democratic League party and the Christian Democratic Union party choose to merge to form the Labour Party, Piet Lieftinck left the Christian Historical Union and subsequently joined the Labour Party.

The Cabinet Drees-Van Schaik fell on 24 January 1951 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1951 when it was replaced by Cabinet Drees I with Piet Lieftinck remaining as Minister of Finance, taking office on 15 March 1951.

In June 1952 Piet Lieftinck was appointed as the Special Representative of the World Bank in Ankara, he resigned as Minister of Finance the same day he took office as the Special Representative of the World Bank on 1 July 1952.

In September 1955 Piet Lieftinck was nominated as an Executive Director of the World Bank Group and Executive Director for Benelux, Israel and Eastern Europe of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, taking office on 1 October 1955.

Piet Lieftinck became active in the private sector and public sector and served as a financial adviser for Suriname from 1 August 1958 until 10 November 1975 and the KLM from 25 April 1963 until September 1977.

Piet Lieftinck was known for his abilities as a manager and policy wonk.

Piet Lieftinck continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death.

Piet Lieftinck became professor at the Erasmus University Rotterdam at a relatively young age.

Piet Lieftinck worked with other politicians on ideas of a new political constellation after the second world war in the breakthrough committee.

In June 1945, Piet Lieftinck became the first post war minister of Finance of the Netherlands.

Piet Lieftinck introduced a new coinage law in 1948, abrogating gold standard coins.

Piet Lieftinck retired as minister in 1952, but from 1955, he was an Executive Director of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.