Jan van den Brink

Born in Laren, North Holland in 1915, he received his doctorate in economics from Tilburg University in 1942. He worked as a civil servant, and he became a professor at Radboud University Nijmegen in December 1945. Van den Brink started serving in the Senate in November 1945 as a member of the Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP), which continued as the Catholic People's Party (KVP) the following month.^[2] He was sworn in as Minister of Economic Affairs as part of the first Beel cabinet on 21 January 1948, becoming the youngest minister in Dutch political history. He stayed on in his position in the Drees–Van Schaik and first Drees cabinets, contributing to the post-World War II economic reconstruction of the Netherlands.^[2][3]

Van den Brink's last term as economic affairs minister ended on 2 September 1952, and he became and advisor of the Amsterdamsche Bank.^[2] He was a member of the board of directors of the bank between 1954 and 1964 and of the AMRO Bank until 1978, following the merger of the Amsterdamsche Bank and the Rotterdamsche Bank. After his departure from politics, he turned down several positions, including as prime minister.^[2][3] Van den Brink was an artist after his retirement, and he died in Hilversum in 2006 at the age of 91.^[3]

He married Anneke Vermeulen in May 1943, and he had seven children.^[2]