Jacques de Kadt

Jacques de Kadt (1897 - 1988) was a prominent and often controversial 20th Century Dutch political thinker, politician and man of letters. Born in Oss into a liberal Jewish family, he was the youngest son of a factory manager, Roelof de Kadt, and his wife Bertha Koppens. Author of numerous books and articles, his most important and influential work was, arguably, his remarkably prescient book Het fascisme en de nieuwe vrijheid (Fascism and the New Freedom) which was published in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Early career

De Kadt's early political career was shaped, in part, by the influence of Rosa Luxemburg. He joined the Dutch Communist Party, soon only to become disenchanted with it and, especially, with the political developments in the Soviet Union. In consequence, he left the Communist Party of Holland in 1924. de Kadt developed into a trenchant and increasingly uncompromising critic of Stalinism, and articulated an independent line of socialist thought and political practice. This was expressed both in the content of his first major book, From Tsarism to Stalininsm published in 1935 in Antwerp,and in his pivotal role in the formation of the Independent Socialist Party (Netherlands) (OSP). The book, which identified a continuity between the character of the Tsarist state and the Soviet political system under Stalin, contained an intimation of de Kadt's broader critique of twentieth century totalitarianism - a critique which was to define the nature of his subsequent political career.

Bibliographical references

Havenaar, R. (1990)De tocht naar het onbekende - Het politieke denken van Jacques de Kadt

Pels, D. (1993) Het democratisch verschil. Jacques de Kadt en de nieuwe elite

External links

• http://www.iisg.nl/bwsa/bios/kadt.html
• http://www.inghist.nl/Onderzoek/Projecten/BWN/lemmata/bwn4/kadt
• http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/00667
• nl:Dick Pels
• http://hoeiboei.web-log.nl/hoeiboei/2006/03/jacques_de_kadt.html
• http://www.vanoorschot.nl/?isbn=9789028240124

• http://www.schrijversinfo.nl/kadtdejacques.html