Hermanus 'Herman' Jacobus Coster (

Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...

, the

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 ...

, 30 June 1865 - Elandslaagte,

South African Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

, 21 October 1899) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

lawyer and State Attorney of the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek.

Biography

Herman Coster was born on 30 June 1865 in Alkmaar in the Netherlands. He went to school at the H.B.S. in Alkmaar, and the Stedelijk Gymnasium in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

. After, he studied law at the

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

, where he became president of the student corps. His uncle, a Hague-based doctor, T.H. Blom Coster, was the patron of his studies. As a student Herman Coster sympathized with the Young Flemish Movement. He completed his PhD in 1890 writing his thesis on Public Voluntary Auctions. He moved to the South African Republic after his family experienced bankruptcy. Here he became a lawyer, and between 1895-1897, at request of President

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or ...

, he served as state attorney. After Kruger insulted the 'Hollanders', Coster resigned his position and returned to working as a lawyer. During the

South African War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...

(1899-1902), Coster joined the Hollanderkorps: a voluntary unit of

Boer foreign volunteers Boer foreign volunteers were participants who volunteered their military services to the Boers in the Second Boer War. Origin Although there was much international sympathy for the Boer cause, there was little official support as governments pr ...

consisting of 130 men and which had been established a mere month earlier. The

Battle of Elandslaagte The Battle of Elandslaagte (21 October 1899) was a battle of the Second Boer War, and one of the few clear-cut tactical victories won by the British during the conflict. However, the British force retreated afterwards, throwing away their advan ...

was both the first and last battle that the Corps participated in. Coster, then a lieutenant, was killed at the Battle of Elandslaagte, along with fellow officer

Cars Geerts de Jonge A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

and seven soldiers: P.J. van den Broek, H. van Cittert, J.A. Lepeltak Kieft,

Jan Moora Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numb ...

, J.Th. Rummeling, M. Schaink, and F.W. Wagner. Another 35 of others were taken prisoner, among them Willem Frederik Mondriaan (brother of the Dutch artist

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...

). The names of the deceased, including Coster, were inscribed at a monument at the location of the battle. The monument was destroyed by vandals in 2014. After his death, Coster was lauded as a hero in the Netherlands and several hagiographies were published. In 1900 the Herman Coster Fund was established in Leiden for

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

and Dutch students. In November 1901 a plaque commemorating Coster was added to the Leiden Academiegebouw. Hermanus Coster Street in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

was named after Coster in 1904. This street is located in the Transvaal neighbourhood of The Hague that was established at this time. In 1915 the name was changed to Herman Coster Street. Today this is the location of the Haagse Markt. Another Herman Coster Street is located nearby in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

. Coster's hometown of Alkmaar also has a street named after him. There are also streets named after Coster in the Transvaal neighbourhoods of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

, as well as in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Coster and the Hollanderkorps were featured as part of the exhibition 'Good Hope: South Africa and the Netherlands from 1600' held at the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

in Amsterdam in 2017.

Gallery

File:CollegiumLSC1889.jpg, Collegium of the Leiden Student corps, 1899-1890. Herman Coster is in the centre. File:HJCosterGraf.jpg, Grave of Herman Coster, Battle of Elandslaagte (1899), South Africa. Unknown photographer, probably around 1899. File:Hermanus Jacob Coster State Attorney Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria 031.jpg, Gravestone of Hermanus Jacob Coster, State Attorney at Church Street Cemetery in Pretoria. File:Leiden340.JPG, Plaque at Academiegebouw, Leiden University, commemorating the death of Leiden alumnus Herman Coster at Elandslaagte (South African Republic) in 1899. File:Hollanderkorps Memorial at Elandslaagte.jpg, Hollanderkorps Memorial at Elandslaagte before its destruction in 2014. File:HJCoster.jpg, alt=Portrait of Coster by Johan Antoni de Jonge (Academish Historisch Museum, Leiden University., Portrait of Coster by Johan Antoni de Jonge (Academisch Historisch Museum, Leiden University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coster, Herman 1865 births 1899 deaths Dutch expatriates in South Africa 19th-century Dutch lawyers Leiden University alumni People from Alkmaar 19th-century South African lawyers Boer military personnel of the Second Boer War Military personnel killed in the Second Boer War

Biography

Gallery

See also

References