Willem Visser 't Hooft

Willem Adolph Visser 't Hooft (20 September 1900 – 4 July 1985) was a Dutch theologian who became the first secretary general of the World Council of Churches in 1948 and held this position until his retirement in 1966.

Visser 't Hooft was born in Haarlem, in the Netherlands, and in his early adult years was involved in the Dutch student Christian movement that soon became involved internationally.

In 1925, while on his first trip to the United States with John R. Mott, he became interested in the "social gospel" movement.

He wrote his doctoral dissertation on it at the University of Leiden in 1928.

From October 1929 (vol. 22, no. 4) through the third quarter, 1939 (vol. 32, no. 3), he served as editor of The Student World, a quarterly magazine published in Geneva by the World's Student Christian Federation.

The magazine's motto was Ut Omnes Unum Sint.

Visser 't Hooft was active in the resistance against Nazism.

In 1938, Visser 't Hooft was named the first secretary general of the WCC, though he was only 38 at the time.

He wrote 15 books in several different languages and numerous articles and some 50,000 letters.

His apartment in Geneva, Switzerland became the meeting place for members of the German Resistance against the Third Reich between March and April 1944.

Hilda Monte and Hannah Bertholet were among the 15-16 people from countries all over Europe who met to discuss international resistance to Nazism.

In 1961, Time magazine did a cover story on Visser 't Hooft and the World Council of Churches.

In 1967, een christelijke HBS met 5-jarigen cursus school in Leiden was renamed and called after Visser 't Hooft, the (Christelijk Lyceum Dr. W.A. Visser 't Hooft).