 Frans van der Hoff was born as the 7th of 17th children of a disciplined farming family "Van der Hoff-Boersma" that had moved from Friesland to the village De Rips in the southern Netherlands.He became politically active early on in student movements during his studies at Radboud University Nijmegen.He later received a Ph.D. in political economy and another one in theology while studying in Germany.