Elizabeth Schmitz

Elizabeth Maria Alida Schmitz (20 May 1938 – 31 December 2024) was a Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Early life Schmitz was born on 20 May 1938 in Rotterdam. She came from a middle-class Catholic family and her father, who sold tobacco, died early.

Political career Schmitz first became involved in politics in 1968, when she joined the Democrats 66 (D66). From 1972 to 1974, Schmitz was a member of the Rotterdam City Council. She served first as a member of the D66 and then, in 1974, joined the Labour Party (PvdA).

Schmitz was elected as the mayor of Haarlem between 16 February 1985 and 3 August 1994. She succeeded Jos van Kemenade as vice president of Pax Christi in 1986. She remained in this position until she joined the cabinet in 1994.

Schmitz was a deputy judge in the district court in Zwolle between 1999 and 2008 and a deputy judge in the district court in Zutphen between 2004 and 2008. She was a member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs between 2001 and January 2006 and a chair of the Advisory Board Members Selection Committee Judiciary from 2005.

Personal life and death Schmitz was Roman Catholic and in 1970, she was offered a position as assistant secretary of the diocese of Rotterdam, but she rejected the offer due to her conflict with the bishop of the diocese, Adrianus Johannes Simonis.

Schmitz died on 31 December 2024, at the age of 86.