Sidney J. Van den Bergh

Dutch businessman, financier and politician of the liberal VVD party.

Van den Bergh came from a Jewish family of politicians and entrepreneurs. His grandfather, Simon van den Bergh , was the founder of Margarine Works Van den Bergh in 1888, from which, after merging with other companies, the multinational Unilever was raised in 1930. His father Samuel van den Bergh was a member of both the Second Chamber and the First Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. His elder brother George van den Bergh was also a member both houses of Dutch Parliament. His uncle Zadok van den Bergh was a member of the Second Chamber as his nephew Robbert van den Bergh was a member of the Council of State ( Raad van State).

After visiting the public Erasmus Gymnasium of Rotterdam from 1916 to 1918, he became reserve lieutenant of the Dutch army. He then studied economics at the Dutch Economic College of Rotterdam (Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool) in July 1918, but left the higher education without a degree in 1922. During his studies, he completed an internship as an examiner in the family Margarine Works Van den Bergh and already took over the position of director of the van den Bergh's Soap Works in Zwijndrecht as a student, before he became director of the Margarine Works Van den Bergh from 1920 to 1926. At that time, he also joined the former Vrijzinnig Democratic Bond (VDB), to which he belonged until 9 February 1946. During this time he was also treasurer of the VDB city council of Rotterdam since 1920. In addition, he was a member of both the Chief Executive and the Executive Board of this party from 1 December 1929 to November 1933.

In 1926 he became director of Lever Brothers, and after the fusion with Unilever from 1929 to May 1959, he was a member of the board of directors of this multinational. He also has been a member of the Continental Committee of NV Unilever in London since 1929.