Hedy d'Ancona was for more than twenty years a politician. She was Secretary of State and Minister, member of the Senate and of the European `Parliament. She became a member of the Dutch Labour-Party in the seventies. Before that she was engaged in action-groups. She started the feminist movement in the Netherlands and is still active in a number of protest-movements.

She started her professional career at the University of Amsterdam as a social geographer, specialised in urban sociology and architecture. At the moment she is chairing a number of cultural organisations.