Abraham George Ellis (26 August 1846, Paramaribo – 29 November 1916, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Vice Admiral and politician. Born in

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

of a mother born in slavery, he was the first Minister of African descent to serve in a

Dutch cabinet The cabinet of the Netherlands ( nl, Nederlands kabinet) is the main executive body of the Netherlands. The current cabinet of the Netherlands is the Fourth Rutte cabinet, which has been in power since 10 January 2022. It is headed by Prime Minis ...

Early life

Ellis spent his early life in

where he was born. He was the son of a wealthy civil servant and a freed Surinamese

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. His father, Johannes Ellis (b. 1812), was the illegitimate child of

Abraham de Veer Abraham de Veer (born 8 January 1767 – 1 February 1838) was a Dutch colonial administrator, who served as governor of Curaçao (1803–1804); the Dutch Gold Coast (1810–1816); Sint Eustatius, Saba (island), Saba and Sint Maarten (1817–18 ...

, governor of the

Dutch Gold Coast The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...

(in present-day Ghana) and his Ghanaian housekeeper Fanny Ellis. When Abraham was appointed governor of

Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius (, ), also known locally as Statia (), is an island in the Caribbean. It is a special municipality (officially " public body") of the Netherlands. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, so ...

in 1817, he took Johannes with him. In 1822, when he was made

governor of Suriname This is a list of colonial governors of Suriname, a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British ...

, again he took Johannes along. Johannes' mother, Maria Louisa de Hart (b. 1826) was born in

bondage Bondage may refer to: Restraints *Physical restraints **Bondage (BDSM), use of restraint for erotic stimulation ***Self-bondage, use of restraints on oneself for erotic pleasure Social and economic practices *Serfdom, feudal enslavement of peasan ...

. Her father, a Jewish plantation owner named Mozes-Meijer de Hart had purchased her family's freedom when she had been just a few months old. In 1860 Ellis left Suriname with his parents and four younger sisters and moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Career

Navy

Ellis graduated from the Royal Netherlands Naval College in

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

on 1 September 1864. He spent over forty years in the navy serving tours to the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

, New Guinea, China, South America and Japan. In between tours he worked ashore with the Naval Torpedo Service and the Personnel Department of the Navy. In June 1902, Ellis was promoted

Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

and appointed director of Willemsoord naval wharf and the Commander of the Den Helder defense line (''Stelling Den Helder''). There Ellis cracked down hard on the social democratic sailor's union, earning him a reputation as a "Devourer of Socialists" (''Socialistenvreter'').

Government (1903–1905)

Following the death of Gerhardus Kruys, the apolitical Ellis was made

Minister of the Navy Minister of the Navy may refer to: * Minister of the Navy (France) * Minister of the Navy (Italy) The Italian Minister of the Navy ( it, Ministri della Marina del Regno) was a member in the Council Ministers until 1947, when the ministry merged ...

in the Kuyper government. His ministry was dominated by combating the rise of unionists within the navy and he saw little success. When the government sought a new

Foreign Affairs Minister In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

after the resignation of the Minister Robert Melvil van Lynden, Ellis served briefly as interim minister. Ellis resigned from the Navy at the rank of Vice-admiral on 1 December 1905 due to heart problems.

Retirement

On 16 August 1905, less than two days after the end of his term in government, Queen Wilhelmina appointed Ellis as her special adjutant. He remained closely associated to the navy and marine business interests and later died from a heart attack in November 1916 during a board meeting of the Colonial Rubber Company in Amsterdam.

Personal life

In 1889 Ellis married Elisabeth Maria Anna (1861–1943) the daughter of his former superior, Vice Admiral Johann Willem Binkes. The marriage remained childless.

Honors

Ellis was a Commander of the Order of the Dutch Lion. He was also closely involved in the creation of the Royal Dutch Navy association 'Our Fleet' (''Onze Vloot'') which he was a president of until 1913.

Trivia

A photograph of his parents in 1846 is the earliest known

daguerreotype Daguerreotype (; french: daguerréotype) was the first publicly available photographic process; it was widely used during the 1840s and 1850s. "Daguerreotype" also refers to an image created through this process. Invented by Louis Daguerre an ...

made in Suriname.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Abraham George 1846 births 1916 deaths Writers from Paramaribo Surinamese people of Jewish descent Royal Netherlands Navy admirals Ministers of the Navy of the Netherlands Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Military personnel from Amsterdam Dutch people of Ghanaian descent Dutch people of Surinamese descent Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George