Jean Wiertz

Jean Wiertz (born 1958 or 1959) is a Dutch composer, music teacher, and school administrator. He has served as chairperson of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) since March 2024.

Life
Wiertz was born in Schaesberg, Limburg, and he went to the Maastricht Academy of Music. He has also studied at the Utrecht and Leiden Universities, and he became a music teacher at the Rotterdam Sint-Laurenscollege high school in 1982. Wiertz worked as a composer and arranger for public broadcasters VARA, KRO, and NOS as well as for the musicals Kaat Mossel (1992) and Mooi Katendrecht (1994) in Rotterdam.

He became principal of Sint-Laurenscollege in 2006, and he filled the same position simultaneously at Eckartcollege and Pleincollege – located in Eindhoven and Nuenen, respectively – between 2011 and 2017. He assumed the position of principal of the Sint-Janslyceum high school in 's-Hertogenbosch in the latter year. Wiertz was appointed chairperson of the CDA at a convention on 23 March 2024. He succeeded Hans Huibers, who had stepped down the summer before. Wiertz declared he wanted to restore the party's stability, honesty, and reliability following a loss of seats in the November 2023 general election.

Personal life
Wiertz has two children, and he resided in Dordrecht as of 2017.