The first woman to become a member of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community, the predecessor of today’s European Parliament, which held its first session in 1952. She left the Assembly in 1956 to join the center-left coalition government of the Netherlands, led by Prime Minister Willem Drees. She was appointed Minister of Social Work and became the first female minister of the Netherlands.
One of her greatest achievements as a minister was the country’s first law on universal social protection system.
Klompé, a scientist, doctor of mathematics and physics, and professor, was an active member of the Dutch resistance during World War II. She was one of the negotiators of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
