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Dries van Agt

Andreas Antonius Maria "Dries" van Agt (2 February 1931-5 February 2024) was Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 19 December 1977 to 4 November 1982, succeeding Joop den Uyl and preceding Ruud Lubbers.

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Dries van Agt was born in Geldrop, North Brabant, Netherlands in 1931 to a Catholic family. He worked as a criminal defense lawyer in Eindhoven from 1955 to 1957 and for the Agriculture and Fisheries and Justice ministries from 1957 to 1968 before becoming a criminal law professor. He served as a district court judge in Arnhem from 1970 to 1971, when he became Justice Minister under Prime Minister Barend Biesheuvel and served until 1977. Van Agt became the parliamentary leader of the new Christian Democratic Appeal party in 1977, forming a cabinet with the help of VVD leader Hans Wiegel and serving as Prime Minister from 1977 to 1982. Van Agt's government fell in 1982, after which he served as Queen's Commissioner of North Brabant from 1983 to 1987, the European Union's Ambassador to Japan from 1987 to 1990, and the EU Ambassador to the United States from 1990 to 1995. Afterwards, Van Agt became a distinguished visiting professor, and he advocated for the anti-war movement, human rights, and a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In 2024, he fell gravely ill, and he and his wife chose euthanasia to die while holding hands.

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