# Alice Besseling > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alice_Besseling > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Alice_Besseling.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Besseling > Source revision: 1355418447 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Dutch politician}} {{Infobox person | name = Alice Besseling | image = Alice Besseling young.jpg | alt = Portrait of Alice Besseling | birth_date = {{Birth date|1944|10|23}}{{cite web|url=http://www.cue-point.nl/glb/stamboom/IX.89-VIII.34.asp#X.ALI-IX.89|title=Stamboom Theodorus (Dorus) Besseling|language=nl|access-date=9 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309155046/http://www.cue-point.nl/glb/stamboom/IX.89-VIII.34.asp#X.ALI-IX.89|archive-date=9 March 2014|url-status=dead}} | birth_place = [Venhuizen](/source/Venhuizen) | death_date = {{Death date and age|2014|01|22|1944|10|23}} | death_place = [Leiden](/source/Leiden) | other_names = Alida Cornelia Maria | political_party = [CDA](/source/Christian_Democratic_Appeal) | awards = [Order of Orange-Nassau](/source/Order_of_Orange-Nassau) }} '''Alida Cornelia Maria "Alice" Besseling''' (23 October 1944 – 22 January 2014) was a city council member for the [CDA](/source/Christian_Democratic_Appeal) in the Dutch city of [Alphen aan den Rijn](/source/Alphen_aan_den_Rijn), and a local and social activist who was instrumental in the recognition of the [Jewish cemetery](/source/Jewish_cemetery) in her hometown. For her work on the city council, her advocacy of women in her political party, and her community activism she was made a member of the [Order of Orange-Nassau](/source/Order_of_Orange-Nassau) in 2008. ==Biography== Alice Besseling was born into a Roman Catholic family in [Hem](/source/Hem_(Netherlands)), a small community in [West-Friesland](/source/West-Friesland), in 1944. From a young age she was interested in governance, first in youth organizations and later in professional organizations{{spaced ndash}}in 1971 she was working for IBM when the Dutch government passed legislation mandating [works council](/source/works_council)s for larger corporations, and she became the first elected member of the IBM works council.{{cite news|title=Portret, Alice Besseling: 'Je moet knokken als je echt iets wilt veranderen'|last=Asselt|first=Dennis van|date=February 2014|work=OR Informatie|page=15|language=nl}} After her marriage she moved to Alphen aan den Rijn, where in 1978 she was elected to the city council for the newly formed [Christian Democratic Appeal](/source/Christian_Democratic_Appeal), a centrist-right coalition of Christian parties. She served on the city council until 1990. During her tenure she was active in supporting weaker members of society; she claimed that "social policy is too important to leave to left-wing parties".{{cite web|url=http://www.leidsch.nu/politiek/politiek/5059,in-memoriam-alice-besseling.html|title=In Memoriam: Alice Besseling|date=25 January 2014|publisher=Leidsch.nu|language=nl|access-date=10 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310141658/http://www.leidsch.nu/politiek/politiek/5059,in-memoriam-alice-besseling.html|archive-date=10 March 2014|url-status=dead}} With a neighbor, Anke Bakker, she spent fifteen years researching the abandoned and razed Jewish cemetery on the Aarkade in Alphen aan den Rijn,{{cite web|url=http://casalphen.blogspot.com/2012/09/lezing-de-zichtbaarheid-van-de-joodse.html|title=Lezing: de zichtbaarheid van de Joodse gemeenschap in Alphen aan de Rijn|date=September 2012|publisher=Centrum Architectuur en Stedenbouw Alphen aan den Rijn|language=nl|access-date=31 January 2014|archive-date=6 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306213620/http://casalphen.blogspot.com/2012/09/lezing-de-zichtbaarheid-van-de-joodse.html|url-status=dead}} uncovering much of the local Jewish history in the process (later the topic of a book by Bakker{{cite web|url=http://meerboeken.nl/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=9955|title=Van Joodse begraafplaats tot Rustplaats Aarkade - Anne Bakker|year=2007|publisher=Meerboeken|language=nl|access-date=30 January 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095447/http://meerboeken.nl/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=9955|url-status=dead}}). In 2012, the city turned the abandoned cemetery into a city park and placed a monument remembering the Jewish community.{{cite news|url=http://www.dichtbij.nl/alphen/uitgaan-en-vrije-tijd/artikel/2427498/joodse-begraafplaats-omgevormd-tot-stadspark.aspx|title=Joodse begraafplaats omgevormd tot stadspark - Alphen aan den Rijn|date=16 September 2012|publisher=[Dichtbij.nl](/source/Dichtbij.nl)|language=nl|access-date=30 January 2014}} Besseling was a founding member of the local women's group for the CDA, and until her death she was a member of her party's provincial women's group.{{cite news|url=http://www.dichtbij.nl/alphen/regionaal-nieuws/artikel/3352626/oud-cdaraadslid-alice-besseling-19442014-overleden.aspx|title=Oud CDA-raadslid Alice Besseling (1944-2014) overleden|last=Frequin|first=Vincent|date=28 January 2014|publisher=[Dichtbij.nl](/source/Dichtbij.nl)|access-date=30 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306213613/http://www.dichtbij.nl/alphen/regionaal-nieuws/artikel/3352626/oud-cdaraadslid-alice-besseling-19442014-overleden.aspx|archive-date=6 March 2014|url-status=dead}} In 2008, her contributions to the community were rewarded with membership in the [Order of Orange-Nassau](/source/Order_of_Orange-Nassau).{{cite web|url=http://www.leidenuniv.nl/nieuwsarchief2/2267.html|title=Overvloedige Leidse lintjesregen|date=29 April 2008|publisher=[Leiden University](/source/Leiden_University)|language=nl|access-date=31 January 2014|archive-date=21 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921181251/https://www.leidenuniv.nl/nieuwsarchief2/2267.html|url-status=dead}} After resigning from the Alphen city council, she worked for eleven years at the Centre for Law in the Information Society at [Leiden University](/source/Leiden_University), and retired in 2010.{{cite web|url=http://law.leidenuniv.nl/nieuws-2013/alice-besseling-overleden.html|title=Alice Besseling overleden|date=30 January 2014|publisher=[Leiden University](/source/Leiden_University)|language=nl|access-date=30 January 2014}} Other community activities in Alphen includes founding and serving as a board member of a dance club for elderly singles,{{cite news|url=http://www.ad.nl/ad/nl/1012/Nederland/article/detail/2126777/2008/10/22/Dansclub-weg-omdat-drankje-ontbreekt.dhtml|title=Dansclub weg omdat drankje ontbreekt|date=22 October 2008|work=[Algemeen Dagblad](/source/Algemeen_Dagblad)|language=nl|access-date=30 January 2014}} as president of the local athletic association Avanti,{{cite news|url=http://www.deweekkrant.nl/pages.php?page=2440037|title=Avanti bruist na vijftig jaar nog als vanouds|last=Egmond|first=Theo van|date=8 November 2012|work=[Alphens Nieuwsblad](/source/Alphens_Nieuwsblad)|language=nl|access-date=31 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221214753/http://www.deweekkrant.nl/pages.php?page=2440037|archive-date=21 February 2014}} and as lector in Alphen's St. Boniface church. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Besseling, Alice}} Category:1944 births Category:2014 deaths Category:Christian Democratic Appeal politicians Category:Dutch women activists Category:Dutch activists Category:Dutch women in politics Category:Municipal councillors in South Holland Category:People from Alphen aan den Rijn Category:People from Venhuizen Category:Recipients of the Order of Orange-Nassau --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alice Besseling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Besseling) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Besseling?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.