Politician
Willem Antoon (Wim) Mateman (Aalten, 07-05-1945 – Rijswijk, 08-06-2019) was a Dutch politician. On behalf of the CDA, he was a member of the House of Representatives of the States General from 1979 to 1998. From 2003 to 2018, Mateman served as an alderman, municipal councillor, and parliamentary group leader for the CDA in the municipality of Rijswijk.
Mateman completed teaching qualifications (MO) in civics and political economy. He subsequently studied sociology at the Catholic University of Nijmegen. During his student years, he was a co-founder of the Student Union (SVB) in Nijmegen. After his studies, Mateman became a teacher of economics, civics, and social studies at the Christian secondary school in Zutphen. From 1970, he was a member of the Provincial Council of Gelderland and a member of Aalten Municipal Council on behalf of the Christian Historical Union (CHU). He also served as an alderman in Aalten.
During the 1977 general election, Mateman stood as a candidate for the CDA but was not directly elected. Later that year, he was offered the opportunity to take a seat in the House, but he declined. Two years later, Mateman entered parliament as an interim member after all. He was sworn in on 28 August 1979. In the House, his focus included trade policy, defence, and domestic governance.
Wim Mateman belonged to the conservative wing of the CDA. He was greatly disappointed when he had to leave the House because the new party leadership sought to renew the parliamentary group. Mateman did not stand for re-election in the 1998 general election.
In 2003, he became the CDA alderman for Finance and Land Affairs in the South Holland municipality of Rijswijk. In May 2014, the CDA left the Rijswijk municipal executive, and he returned to the municipal council, becoming the leader of the CDA parliamentary group. In 2018, he retired from local politics.
Mateman was married and had two children. In 1992, he was appointed Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion, and in 1998, Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau. In 1992, he was named Pipe Smoker of the Year.
Headstrong ‘right-winger’ of the CDA – NRC Handelsblad, 13 April 1992