{{short description|Dutch politician}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2018}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Tof Thissen | image = TofThissen.jpg | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1957|5|19|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Roermond]], [[Netherlands]] | birth_name = Christoffel Paul Thissen | death_date = | death_place = | office = [[GreenLeft]] [[Fractievoorzitter|chair of the parliamentary party]] in the [[Senate of the Netherlands|Senate]] | term_start = 2007 | term_end = 2015 | predecessor = [[Diana de Wolff]] | successor = | party = [[GreenLeft]] | constituency = | majority = | spouse = | children = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Christoffel Paul (Tof) Thissen''' (born 19 May 1957 in [[Roermond]]) is a Dutch politician. Between 2004 and 2015 he was member of the [[Senate of the Netherlands|Senate]] for [[GreenLeft]].
==Life before politics== Thissen attended a [[Roman Catholicism in the Netherlands|Roman Catholic]] primary school in Roermond. Between 1969 and 1976 he attended the [[Gymnasium (school)|gymnasium]] at the Episcopal college in the same city. He graduated specializing in [[arts]]. Between 1976 and 1977 he was a member of the centre-left [[Dutch Labour Party|Labour Party]]. In 1977 however he switched to the more leftwing [[Pacifist Socialist Party]]. Betwedeen 1977 and 1982 he studied [[theology]] at the Higher School for Theology and Pastoral Studies in [[Heerlen]]. He reached his ''kandidaats'' examen (roughly equivalent to a [[Bachelor of Arts]]). Between and after his study he worked at the Limburg Centre for Development Cooperation. Between 1979 and 1985 he also was the Limburg provincial coordinator for [[peace movement|peace activities]] and member of the national working group for local peace groups of the [[oecumenical]] [[Christianity|Christian]] [[pacifist]] [[Interkerkelijk Vredesberaad]]. After his study Thissen worked as an RE teacher at a secondary school. In this period he was chair of the Roermond PSP between 1982 and 1986.
==Roermond politics== Between 1986 and 2002 Thissen was a member of the Roermond [[City Council (Netherlands)|city council]]. First for Roermond Left, an alliance the PSP and the progressive Christian [[Political Party of Radicals]] and later for [[GreenLeft]], formed by a merger of the two parties merged. Between 1987 and 1990 he returned to studying theology, now at the [[Radbouw University|Catholic University Nijmegen]]. Thissen specialized in the ethics of the economy. He did however not finish he studies. In addition to his study Thissen also taught [[civics]] at a high school. Thissen was very active in the Roermond [[social movements]] and [[civil society]]. He served as a member of the board of Roermond branch of Stichting Vluchtelingenwerk, a foundation that helps [[refugees]] between 1987 and 1991. He also chaired the Roermond Anti-Discriminationbureau in 1988. In addition he was treasurer of the foundation Roermond Festival, between 1989 and 1994 and he chaired the board of the Roermond Cultural Youth Centre "[[De Azijnfabriek]]". He was also active in GreenLeft. Between 1989 and 1994 as member of the Limburg provincial board and between 1989 and 1992 as a member of the GreenLeft national party council.
In 1992 worked as coordinator of a Roermond labour market reintegrationprogram for young people and after that was the director of the Roermond Recycling Centre. In 1994 he became [[wethouder|alderman]] in Roermond, where managed the portfolios welfare, social security, education, culture and youth. As alderman he had a range of secondary functions in regional social affairs. Since 1998 he was a member of the delegation [[Association of Netherlands Municipalities]] with the [[SZW|ministry of Social Affairs and Employment]]. He also had some national secondary functions in the social sphere. He for instance chaired the national council for the project Heel de Buurt, which worked on [[urban renewal]]. He also became chairman of the board of [[Divosa]], the national association of managers in the sphere of labour, income and care. Since 2001 he was suppleant of the Council for Work and Income. In [[1998 Dutch general election|1998]], [[2002 Dutch general election|2002]] and [[2003 Dutch general election|2003]] he was a member of the GreenLeft selection committee for the national elections.
==Senate== In 2003 Thissen was candidate for the [[Senate of the Netherlands|Senate]] he received a sixth place on the list. In the [[elections in the Netherlands|elections]] the party only received five seats. In 2004 [[Mirjam de Rijk]] left the Senate to become general director of the environmental organization [[Stichting Natuur en Milieu]]. Thissen replaced her. In the Senate, Thissen was active on the portfolios education, finance and health care. In 2007 the GreenLeft Congress made Thissen [[lijsttrekker]] for the Senate elections. He beat [[Yolan Koster-Dreese]] by a wide margin. His term in the Senate ended on 9 June 2015.<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.parlement.com/id/vge7dtpqekuq/ch_p_tof_thissen |title=Ch.P. (Tof) Thissen |language=Dutch |publisher=Parlement.com |date= |accessdate=9 June 2015}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/03029 Tof Thissen] on parlement.com * [http://www.eerstekamer.nl/9324000/1f/j9vvgh5ihkk7kof/vguea5yb909s Tof Thissen] on eerstekamer.nl
{{Members of the Senate of the Netherlands, 2011–2015}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thissen, Tof}} [[Category:1957 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Aldermen of Roermond]] [[Category:GroenLinks politicians]] [[Category:Members of the Senate (Netherlands)]] [[Category:Municipal councillors in Limburg (Netherlands)]] [[Category:People from Roermond]] [[Category:Pacifist Socialist Party politicians]]