Johan de Witt (politician)
Johan de Witt (born October 15, 1618 in Dordrecht , † October 27, 1676 ibid) was a Dutch politician from the patrician family De Witt .
Personal and career
De Witt was the son of the father of the same name and Belia Stockmans. He spent his studies in Leiden and Orléans , where he graduated in public law in 1641. After his return to Dordrecht he was employed as secretary of the Dutch embassy , which in the years 1644 to 1645 initiated peace negotiations between Denmark and Sweden . In 1647 he began his activity as a member of the city government, which lasted with small interruptions until the rampjaar 1672. Shortly before that in 1670 he was the Dutch envoy to Denmark and Poland . Johan de Witt also appeared at the provincial level. The appointments as deputy of the states of Holland and Friesland as well as councilor of the southern Netherlands were followed in the years from 1664 to 1666 by the activity as deputy of the Dutch States General (Dutch: Staten-Generaal ) and his posting as a kind of Commissioner General in the Netherlands Provinces of Zeeland , Gelderland and Overijssel .
Politically, he was on the side of his distant relative of the same name, Johan de Witt , and the correspondence between the two politicians is evidence of this friendly relationship. When the brothers Johan and Cornelis de Witt were murdered in the most cruel manner by Orange partisans in 1672 (rampjaar) , the new governor Wilhelm III. from Orange-Nassau De Witt from the government of his hometown.
He was married to Petronella Gijsberta van Wouw, who died only 13 days after the wedding, and then to Katharina van Beaumont. From his second marriage came a daughter and a son, which however could not achieve any political significance.
Miscellaneous
Johan de Witt, like his known relative, was a man interested in scientific matters (his correspondence with the orientalist and mathematician Jacobus Golius is in the possession of the Zealand Cooperative in Middelburg ), who also appeared as a man of letters under the pseudonym DH.
His portrait from 1656, described by Nicolaes Maes , is now in a private collection in The Hague .
literature
- Sypesteyn, CA van, De geslachten De Witt te Dordrecht en te Amsterdam in: De Nederlandsche heraut. Tijdschrift op het gebied van geslacht-, wapen- en zegelkunde jrg. 3 (1886's-Gravenhage; C. van Doorn & zoon)
- Fruin-Kernkamp, Brieven van Johan de Witt , 1st edition, page 283
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Witt, Johan de |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch politician from the De Witt patrician family |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1618 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dordrecht |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 27, 1676 |
| Place of death | Dordrecht |