Johannes Theodoor de Visser

Johannes Theodoor (or Theodorus) de Visser (9 February 1857 – 14 April 1932) was a Dutch preacher and politician for the Christian Historical Union (CHU). He was the Netherlands' first Minister of Education.

Early life and education
De Visser was born in Utrecht on 9 February 1857. After grammar school, he went on to study theology in his hometown in 1874, at the age of seventeen. He received his doctorate from J.J.P. Valeton cum laude with a dissertation on De Daemonologie van het Oude Testament ('The Demonology of the Old Testament') on 27 May 1880. A year before, he had already taken his candidate exam in law.

Career
De Visser was a reformed minister in congregations in Leusden, Almelo, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam. In 1897 he came to the House of Representatives for the small Christian Historical Voters' League and remained a member of it (with interruptions) until 1918. During this period, he worked closely with the Free Anti Revolutionary Party led by Alexander de Savornin Lohman. The Christian Historical Voters' League fused with this party in 1903 to form the Christian Historical Party, and in 1908 this party again fused with the Frisian League to form the Christian Historical Union.

In 1918 he became the first Minister of Education in the twentieth century. With his Primary Education Act – which was approved nearly unanimously, he ended the educational pacification of 1907. He also brought about other important education legislation, such as the Industrial Education Act. In 1925, although he had an aversion to the use of Bible texts in Parliament, he conducted a theologically oriented debate about subsidies for the Olympic Games. After his term of office, he returned to Parliament as faction leader of the CHU. He fell out with his fellow party members in 1926 after he – unsuccessfully – tried to form a cabinet outside his party and seek a compromise for the Dutch legation to the Vatican.

On 31 August 1931, De Visser was appointed the honorary title of Minister of State. A bust of De Visser, made by Han Wezelaar, was unveiled in 1937 on the Bezuidenhoutseweg near de Koekamp in The Hague. It is now located in the hall of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

Personal life
De Visser was the son of Justus de Visser, a merchant, and Simonia Gerarda de Ruijter, who died at a young age. He was married on 5 July 1882 to Gezina Ida van der Garde, with whom he had three sons and one daughter.