12 - Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer

Summary

The Dutch anti-revolutionary and Protestant thinker, historian, jurist, and politician Guillaume (Willem) Groen van Prinsterer (Voorburg, 21 August 1801 – The Hague, 19 May 1876) played an important role in the Netherlands after 1813, the period after the Batavian–French era. He came from an enlightened–conservative family from Holland. His father was a doctor and court physician and his mother was very wealthy. After finishing his studies at Leiden University, he graduated as a doctor of literature and law, and in 1823 became a lawyer in The Hague. He was a very gifted child who grew up to become a gentleman and mingled in high society, attending balls and parties. In 1827, he started working in Brussels and later became secretary to King William I (1829–1833). He married Betsy van der Hoop in 1828, a well-educated and pious woman. Groen van Prinsterer was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, the same church as the royal family of the House of Orange-Nassau.