Joris Jacob Clemens Voorhoeve (born 22 December 1945, The Hague

The Hague

The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

) is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

, former minister

Minister (government)

A minister is a politician who holds significant public office in a national or regional government. Senior ministers are members of the cabinet....

, and university professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

.

Voorhoeve was the leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

People's Party for Freedom and Democracy

The People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a conservative-liberal political party located in the Netherlands. The VVD supports private enterprise in the Netherlands and is often perceived as an economic liberal party in contrast to the social-liberal Democrats 66 alongside which it sits in...

 between 1986 and 1990 and served as the Dutch Minister of Defence

Ministry of Defence (Netherlands)

The Netherlands Ministry of Defence governs the Netherlands Armed Forces. The Minister is assisted by a State Secretary...

 between 1994 and 1998. He is a member of the Dutch Council of State

Dutch Council of State

In the Netherlands, the Council of State is a constitutionally established advisory body to the government which consists of members of the royal family and Crown-appointed members generally having political, commercial, diplomatic, or military experience...

. In 2010 he left the VVD and joined the liberal Democrats 66

Democrats 66

Democrats 66 is a progressive and social-liberal political party in the Netherlands. D66 was formed in 1966 by a group of politically unaligned, young intellectuals, led by journalist Hans van Mierlo. The party's main objective was to democratise the political system; it proposed to create an...

 party.

Voorhoeve is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

Institute for Cultural Diplomacy

The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is an international, not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation based in Berlin. Founded in 1999 by Mark Donfried, its activities focus on promoting and developing the field of cultural diplomacy by conducting research, initiatives and programs, holding...

.

His son is the political philosopher Alex Voorhoeve.