Dutch jurist, attorney, minister of Justice and politician.
Sorgdrager attended the Gymnasium-B in Arnhem (1960-1966), studied a year Medicine in Leiden and from 1967 to 1971 Law in Groningen. She worked at Twente university till 1979 , when she became an “Officier van justitie” (public prosecutor) in Almelo. In 1986 she was “advocaat-generaal” (Attorney general) at the court of Arnhem. From 15 June 1991 she was “procureur-generaal” (PG) in Arnhem and Den Haag (1 Jan 1994 – 22 Aug 1994).
From 22 Augustus 1994 till 3 Augustus 1998 she was Minister of Justice in Den Haag for the liberal D66 party. Subjets were soft drugs, the escape of Bouterse (1997, Brazil) and the position of the PG’s. From 8 June 1999 till 1 October 1999 she was seated in the First Chamber of the Parliament, the Dutch Senate.
From 1 Jan 2000 till 1 Jan 2006 she was Chairman of the Raad voor Cultuur. Since 1 January 2006 she is a member of the Council of State (Raad van Staat) of the Netherlands.
A list of all her diverse functions (many) can be found in the Source notes. One of her functions is being chairman of the Multatuli-genootschap founded in 1910. The meaning of her name “Zorg” (worry) “Drager” (bearer) fits surprisingly well with Multatuli’s penn-name which is Latin for “I suffered a lot”.
Personal.
Winnie plays the viola and had always an interest in art. As a girl she wanted to study musicology or art history. But her father, a man of the “wederopbouw” (rebuilding after WW2), hard working for your country, was opposed to it and insisted on Law. Medicine was a compromise, but was not a success. Law was her third choice, but it enrolled her in many cultural important functions. In an interview with Koos de Wilt she calls herself both striving to independence as well a team player. But she had difficulty with selling opinions that were not her own (as is often asked for in politics). She once thought that good rational arguments would work, but that was not the case in politics. As image building and personal interests counted first:
“Ik heb een onafhankelijk karakter en vind het moeilijk om meningen te verkondigen die de mijne niet zijn. Ik kan goed in een hiërarchische organisatie werken, maar zal nooit slaafs achter een baas aan lopen. In de politiek heb ik me ook altijd onafhankelijk opgesteld, met alle gevolgen van dien. Wat mij het meeste heeft verbaasd in de politiek, is dat het redelijke argument er vaak zo weinig toe doet. Ik heb altijd gedacht dat, als je met een goed verhaal komt, men er dan naar zou luisteren en de argumenten zou wegen. Maar dat is dus niet zo. Het gaat in de politiek vaak om heel andere dingen. Het gaat om beelden, om bepaalde politieke belangen, soms onafhankelijk van de politieke inhoud.”
She married the physician Dr. J.F.F. Lekkerkerker and got two sons and a daughter.
Link to Dutch Wikipedia