Ien Dales

Catharina Isabella "Ien" Dales (18 October 1931 – 10 January 1994) was a Dutch politician and social worker. Born in Arnhem, she received a degree in education from the University of Amsterdam and worked in social services before her career in politics. She became a member of the Labour Party (PvdA) in 1968 and was appointed State Secretary for Social Affairs and Employment in the Van Agt II cabinet, a position that she held between 1981 and 1982. Dales was a member of the House of Representatives between 1981 and 1987 and mayor of Nijmegen between 1987 and 1989. She was the Minister of the Interior in the Lubbers III cabinet from 1989 and 1994.

Early life Dales was born on 18 October 1931 in Arnhem, Netherlands. Her father was Teunis Dales, who owned a business selling construction supplies and her mother was Wilhelmina Bertha Holstigen. She was the eldest of three children, with a younger brother and sister. The family were well off and she attended a public primary school. When Dales was ten, her father died of appendicitis and her mother had to go to work.

Dales began her secondary studies at the public in Arnhem. She received an HBS-A diploma in 1947 and, intending to study medicine at university, an HBS-B diploma in 1950, but she was unable to afford to attend university. Having grown up in the Dutch Reformed faith, she decided to train as a youth church leader. She received a scholarship to attend the Church and World Academy in Driebergen, the largest church training programme in the country, in the 1950s. While studying, she was strongly influenced by her teacher Willem Banning, a co-founder of the Labour Party (PvdA).

Political career Dales joined the PvdA in 1968. She was the second known LGBT government minister in the Netherlands. She was in a relationship with fellow Labour Party politician Elizabeth Schmitz. For many years this fact was an open secret in Dutch politics at that time.

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