Wim Schermerhorn

Willem Schermerhorn was born on 17 December 1894 in Akersloot in the Dutch province of North Holland. He grew up in a Protestant family of farmers. He became professor of land surveying and geodesy at the Delft University of Technology on 7 September 1926. He was a leader in photogrammetry and founder of the International Training Centre for Aerial Survey. The International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing has offers an award in memory of Schermerhorn. Schermerhorn remained professor until 1944, when he was removed by the German occupational forces because of his activities in the Dutch resistance. He was interned by the German occupational forces as a hostage in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel from May 1942 until December 1943. After he was removed as professor in 1944 Schermerhorn went into hiding to avoid being taken prisoner by the German occupational forces.

On 24 June 1945 he became Prime Minister of the Schermerhorn–Drees cabinet, the first cabinet after World War II. Schermerhorn was the first Dutch Prime Minister who appointed civil servants with a political background, people like Koos Vorrink and Hendrik Brugmans (nicknamed "The Schermerboys"). After the elections of 1946 he became a member of parliament, as a member of the social democratic Labour Party. He remained a member of parliament until 1951. After his parliamentarian career ended he became director of the International Training Center for Aerial Survey in 1951 (until 1969). In 1956 he became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.

On 9 April 1919, Schermerhorn married Barbara Rook (13 June 1897 – 7 January 1986). Wim Schermerhorn died on 10 March 1977 in Haarlem. He was 82. His brother, Dirk Schermerhorn, was an engineer in the Soviet Union (he was involved in the construction of the Moscow Subway). He was killed during the Stalinist purges in 1937. His sister, Neeltje, was married to theologian Johannes Marie de Jonge, principal of the Theological Seminary of the Dutch Reformed Church in Driebergen (1960–1968).