Jan van Hooff (politician)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Johan Frederik Rudolph van Hooff, by Reinier Vinkeles.
Jan van Hooff (1981) by Auke Hettema on the Markt in Eindhoven.

Johan Frederik Rudolph "Jan" van Hooff (26 August 1755 – 13 June 1816, in

Utrecht) was a Dutch Patriot politician and statesman
.

Biography

Van Hooff was born in

.

In 1786 he founded the Vaderlandse Sociëteit Concordia (English: National Society Concordia) together with Amandus van Moorsel; this society was a social club in name, but a Patriot organization in reality. Several town notables joined this society.

In 1787 Jan van Hoff and several other Eindhoven Patriots traveled to Utrecht to join the Patriot Army. This army was defeated by the

and imprisoned. He was released shortly thereafter and returned to Eindhoven. However, he was re-arrested on 12 February 1788 (in Eindhoven this time), but managed to escape.

In 1789 there was a failed, pro-French rebellion in the Southern Netherlands. Fearing that the insurrection would spread to the

French Republic had been proclaimed. He sought (and received) French support for the reparation of Batavian freedom (Dutch: herstelling van de Bataafse vrijheid); French troops arrived in Eindhoven on 6 March 1793 and the freedom tree was planted in the town on that day. The French were subsequently pushed back by the Austrians, but took permanent possession of the town following the 1794 Battle of Fleurus
.

Van Hooff became a member of the

coup of 22 January 1798, after which he was arrested and imprisoned — first at the Gevangenpoort in The Hague, later at the Palace Huis Ten Bosch
. He was finally released on 14 July.

He served as Minister for Justice and was a member of the State Council until 1810. He then retired and spent the rest of his life as a citizen without office. He died without having been married.

Monuments and statues

The city of Eindhoven commissioned Auke Hettema to make a statue of Van Hooff in 1981. The statue is currently on the Markt in Eindhoven.

References

  • The information on this page, or an earlier version thereof, is taken partially or in whole from www.parlement.com. Such copying is allowed under citation of source.