Abraham Arnold Lodewijk "Bram" Rutgers (24 July 1884 – 26 September 1966) was a Dutch botanist and politician who served as Governor-General of Suriname from 1928 until 1933, the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

from 1936 until 1959, and served as its

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

from 1956 onwards. He was a member of the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party ( nl, Anti-Revolutionaire Partij, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and mi ...

(ARP).

Biography

Rutgers was born on 24 July 1884 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He wanted to study mathematics and physics, however his family belonged to the Christian Reformed Church which implied that he had to go to the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

which did not teach physics, therefore, he also enlisted at the secular

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In 1910, he obtained his doctorate in

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

. After graduating, Rutgers left for Dutch East Indies (nowadays: Indonesia) to work for the Department of Agriculture. On 14 November 1910, he married the daughter of Alexander Idenburg who was the Gouvernor of the Dutch East Indies. Between 1916 and 1922, he served as the President of the experimental rubber station AVROS in

Medan Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four mai ...

, Sumatra.

Suriname

On 20 January 1928, Rutgers was appointed Governor-General of Suriname, however he did not accept the nomination until 30 May. The Great Depression also caused an economic crisis in Suriname, and attempts to stimulate agriculture failed. In December 1932,

Anton de Kom Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom (22 February 1898 – 24 April 1945) was a Surinamese resistance fighter and anti-colonialist author. He was arrested in Suriname and the protest against his arrest resulted in two deaths. De Kom was subsequently ...

, a communist who was born in Suriname, was told that his mother was very ill. Rutgers was notified of his arrival, and ordered a constant watch. On 1 February 1933, a planned meeting was cancelled after a large armed police force showed up. De Kom decided to go to Rutgers to complain, and was arrested on route. On 7 February, a large crowd gathered on Oranjeplein demanding de Kom's release. When the crowd refused to leave, the police opened fire, killing two people and wounding 22. On 10 May, de Kom was exiled to the Netherlands without trial. In March 1933, Rutgers decided to run for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

in the Netherlands. He was elected, and left for the Netherlands on 3 August. On 6 July 1933, ''

Algemeen Handelsblad ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on 1 ...

'' complimented Rutgers on lowering the deficit in Suriname despite an economic depression and less income. He served in parliament until 21 January 1936. He was subsequently appointed to the

, the advisory council of the government.

World War II

After the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands ( nl, Duitse aanval op Nederland), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands ( nl, Slag om Nederland), was a military campaign part of Case Yellow (german: Fall Gelb), the Nazi German invasion of t ...

, Rutgers managed to persuade the German authority to keep the Administrative Dispute Division of the Council of State operational. In 1940, Dutch politicians were taken hostage as a reprisal for the internment of Germans in the Dutch colonies. In January 1941, Rutgers was interned at Kamp Schoorl, a political prisoner and transit camp. He was temporarily transferred to Buchenwald concentration camp when the German authority received word that German internees in Mariënburg, Suriname were not well treated. Rutgers was released in December 1942. Starting in 1943, Rutgers served in the Vaderlandsch Comité, a resistance organisation headed by the later Prime Minister

Willem Drees Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, G ...

, which sent advice and intelligence to the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile ( nl, Nederlandse regering in ballingschap), also known as the London Cabinet ( nl, Londens kabinet), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the Germ ...

Later life

Between 7 May 1945 until 15 September 1945, Rutgers was acting Queen's commissioner for the province of South Holland. In 1946, he led a government mission to the

Dutch West Indies The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...

to evaluate the political situation. Between 1950 and 1953, Rutgers was a member of the Van Schaik Commission which was tasked to make a general review of the

Constitution of the Netherlands The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the ...

. On 16 May 1956, he was appointed

Vice-President of the Council of State The vice-president of the Council of State ( nl, Vice-President van de Raad van State) is the ''de facto'' presiding officer of the Council of State. The monarch serves as the ''ex officio'' president of the Council of State but in reality seldo ...

. He retired on 1 August 1959. Rutgers died on 26 September 1966 in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and Dorp (town), town located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The ...

, at age of 82.

Honours

* Commander in the

Order of Orange Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

. * Commander in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands ( nl, De Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw, french: L'Ordre du Lion Néerlandais) is a Dutch order of chivalry founded by King William I of the Netherlands on ...

. * Commander in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

. * Grand Cross in the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (french: Ordre de la Couronne de chêne, german: Eichenlaubkronenorden, lb, Eechelaafkrounenuerden) is an order of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by Gran ...

. * Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutgers, Bram 1884 births 1966 deaths Governors of Suriname 20th-century Dutch botanists Politicians from Amsterdam Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Vice-presidents of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) University of Amsterdam alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Utrecht University alumni Dutch resistance members Buchenwald concentration camp survivors King's and Queen's Commissioners of South Holland Commanders of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)