Thierry Baudet facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Thierry Baudet
Baudet in 2018
Chair and leader of Forum for Democracy
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 September 2016
Leader of Forum for Democracy in the House of Representatives
In office 23 March 2017 – 12 January 2025
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 23 March 2017 – 12 January 2025
Succeeded by	Lidewij de Vos
Personal details
Born	Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (1983-01-28) 28 January 1983 (age 42) Heemstede, Netherlands
Political party	Forum for Democracy (2016–present)
Spouse	Davide Heijmans ​ (m. 2021)​
Children	2
Residence	Amsterdam
Alma mater	University of Amsterdam (BA, LLM) Leiden University (PhD)
Occupation	Politician, author
Signature

Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch politician and author. He is the founder and leader of the Forum for Democracy (FvD) political party. He has been a member of the Dutch Parliament (House of Representatives) since 2017, except for a short break for paternity leave. He leads his party in Parliament. He is known for his strong opinions. He was physically attacked twice while campaigning in 2023.

Early Life and Education

Thierry Baudet was born in Heemstede, Netherlands. His family has some Walloon (from Belgium) roots. One of his ancestors moved to the Netherlands in 1795 to avoid joining the French army. His great-great-grandmother was born in the Dutch East Indies and had some Indonesian heritage.

Baudet went to a special high school in Haarlem. There, he had to study Latin and Ancient Greek. He later studied history at the University of Amsterdam. From 2007 to 2012, he worked on his PhD at Leiden University.

In 2012, he earned his PhD. His main topic was about national identity and different cultures. His PhD paper was published as "The Attack on the Nation-State" in Dutch. It was also translated into English as "The Significance of Borders".

Political Career

Baudet campaigning in 2020

In 2013, Baudet worked at Tilburg University. He also wrote articles for a newspaper called NRC Handelsblad from 2011 to 2012. In 2016, he started a political group called Forum for Democracy (FvD). This group later became a political party.

In the 2017 Dutch general election, Baudet and Theo Hiddema were elected to the House of Representatives. This is part of the Dutch Parliament. Baudet even had his piano put in his office in The Hague.

In 2018, he received the Prize for Liberty from a group called Libera!. On 26 October 2023, Baudet was attacked with an umbrella in Ghent, Belgium. On 20 November 2023, he was attacked with a bottle in Groningen, Netherlands, and had to go to the hospital.

Baudet took a break from Parliament on 12 January 2025 for paternity leave. Lidewij de Vos took his place. He plans to return to Parliament on 3 March 2025.

Political Beliefs

Baudet believes in protecting national traditions and is against the European Union. He wants the Netherlands to leave the EU. He also does not support a lot of immigration into the Netherlands. He has said that immigration can change Dutch culture. He wants to keep the original cultures of Europe as they are.

Baudet was against an agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. He helped collect signatures for a vote on this agreement in 2016. He campaigned for people to vote "No" in this vote. During this time, he shared some false information.

In 2016, Baudet signed a letter that questioned the investigation into the MH17 plane crash. This caused concern among the families of the victims. Later, in 2018, he supported the Dutch government in holding Russia responsible for the MH17 crash. In 2020, some of Baudet's private messages were shared. These messages showed he had contact with a pro-Russian activist. Baudet said his messages were taken out of context.

In February 2022, when Russia sent troops into Ukraine, Baudet supported Russia's actions. He refused to say that Russia's actions were wrong during a debate in Parliament. In August 2022, Baudet called Russian President Vladimir Putin "a huge hero". He said Putin was fighting a "heroic" fight against "globalists".

Baudet has strong opinions about art. He thinks that non-Western art and modern Western art after 1900 are not as good as older Western art. He likes tonal music more than atonal music. He also dislikes modern buildings built after 1950. Some people have compared his views on art to the idea of "degenerate art," which was a term used by the Nazis.

Baudet often talks about a "party cartel." He believes that the main political parties in the Netherlands secretly work together. He thinks they share power and have the same goals, even if they pretend to be rivals.

He is not religious, but he has shown some support for Christianity. In 2017, he called himself an "agnostic cultural Christian". However, in 2022, he said that Christianity "lacks masculinity" and is a belief "for losers."

Baudet is critical of Islam. He is worried about the number of immigrants from Islamic countries and how well they fit into Dutch society. He has said that Islamic schools in the Netherlands should follow Western values. He has also praised another Dutch politician, Geert Wilders, for bringing up issues about Islam.

In 2018, Baudet was asked about a link between IQ and race. He did not answer the question directly. However, other members of his party said they believed there was a link. In 2021, a magazine reported that Baudet had sent private messages. These messages reportedly contained comments about different racial groups.

Baudet believes in a theory called "Cultural Marxism." This theory suggests there is a plan to destroy Western culture using ideas from universities and thinkers. Baudet says the European Union is part of this plan.

Baudet has shared ideas that COVID-19 was created to "steal freedom." He has also been accused of making comments that are seen as against Jewish people. After these claims in 2020, he temporarily stepped down as party leader. Many members left his party at that time. He later returned as leader.

In 2021, Baudet suggested an "escape-strategy, Madagascar or something" for the migrant population in Brussels. This was seen by many as a reference to a Nazi plan to move Jewish people to Madagascar. Baudet and his party members have also compared measures to stop COVID-19 to the persecution of Jews by Nazi Germany. This led to more people leaving his party. In September 2021, he attended a protest where some people wore symbols similar to those Jewish people were forced to wear during World War II. Baudet was criticized for this. He then tweeted that Jewish organizations "do not own the war" and put the word Holocaust in quotation marks. Many politicians and Jewish groups criticized him for this.

He is also supportive of Russia. He has said that the 2022 war in Ukraine is the fault of Western countries. He has also suggested that the September 11 attacks and the Moon landing were not real, but were staged by the United States government. In October 2022, Baudet said he believed in a theory that the world is controlled by "evil reptilians". He also called Vladimir Putin "a hero we need" and said Putin must win the war in Ukraine.

Personal Life

Thierry Baudet once said he was a "cultural Christian." However, he later said that "Christianity lacks masculinity" and that his beliefs are closer to paganism. In December 2021, Baudet married Davide Heijmans, a photographer. They have two children: a son named Lancelot, born in September 2022, and a daughter named Penelope, born in January 2025.

Electoral History

Published Books

Thierry Baudet has written and edited several books:

• 2010: (edited with Michiel Visser) Conservative Progress. The greatest thinkers of the 20th century.
• 2011: (edited with Michiel Visser) Revolutionary Decline and conservative progress in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• 2012: Pro Europe therefore against the EU.
• 2012: The Significance of Borders. Why representative government and the rule of law require nation-states. PhD dissertation
• 2012: The attack on the nation state.
• 2013: Oikofobie. De angst voor het eigene (Oikophobia. The fear of home).
• 2014: (edited with Geert Mak) At home in time. ISBN: 9789035141988
• 2014: (with Arie Boomsma) From Bach to Bernstein. Classical music for everyone. ISBN: 9789044627084
• 2014: Conditional love (Novel). ISBN: 9789044626810
• 2017: Break the party cartel! The necessity of referendums. ISBN: 9789044633689
• 2018: Delivered from all whereto (Novel). ISBN: 9789044637359
• 2020: Politics of common sense. ISBN: 9789083063010
• 2020: The havoc of ten years' Rutte. ISBN: 9789083063041

See also

In Spanish: Thierry Baudet para niños