Elias, Ton
Ton Maarten Christofoor Elias, born on March 14th, 1955 in The Hague, the Netherlands, is a Dutch politician and former journalist. He is a member of the House of Representatives on behalf of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, VVD)since December 18, 2008. He focuses on matters of education and the Dutch House of Representatives in general.
Roles[edit]
Before going into politics Ton Elias served as chief editor of the University of Amsterdam paper Folia Civitatis between 1977 and 1982. He then became an editor and reporter for the current affairs television programme NOS/Den Haag Vandaag, a position which he held until 1989. He worked shortly for TV 10 between 1989 and 1990, after which he was a freelance journalist for both the Parool newspaper and RTL between 1990 and 1995. In 1995 he became Communications director for Aegon, until 2000, when he became founder and director of Elias Communicatie, a position which he held until 2006. In 2000 he also founded Elias Advies, a public relations company specialized in advising media outlets and designing media strategies. As director of this company he remains until present. In 2008 he became a Member of Parliament for the VVD, originally as interim successor to Henk Kamp. In 2010 he was officially elected as an member of the House of Representatives.
Education:[edit]
Elias attended sub-level pre-university education, from which he graduated in 1974. He studied Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, from which he graduared in 1983. As part of his position at Aegon he also took part in the International executive prgramme of the AEGON University in Fontainbleau, France, focusing on strategy, leadership and synergy in the financial sector.
