Jan Herman van Roijen (28 March 1871 – 31 August 1933) was a Dutch diplomat.

Early life

Jan Herman was born on 28 March 1871, in

Zwolle, Overijssel Zwolle () is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Overijssel and the province's second-largest municipality after Enschede with a population of 130,592 as of 1 December 2021. Zwolle is on ...

. He was a son of Jan Hermannus van Roijen (1827–1883) and the former Anna Aleida van Engelen (1831–1911). His father served as an Alderman of Zwolle. A member of the politically prominent Van Roijen family, his paternal grandparents were Senator Isaäc Antoni van Roijen and Anna Gesina van Engelen and his maternal grandparents were Nicolaas van Engelen and Margaretha Machteld Francina Badings. Among his uncles were Hendricus Nicolaus van Roijen, Berend van Roijen (father of Isaac Antoni van Roijen, mayor of

Hoogezand Hoogezand is a town in the municipality of Midden-Groningen, in the province of Groningen in northeast Netherlands. History The name refers to a higher sanded ''(Hooge Sandt)'' place in the peatlands cut through when the Winschoterdiep channe ...

), and Stephanus Jacobus van Roijen (father of Isaac Antoni van Roijen, the mayor of Zwolle).

Career

From 1905 to 1908, during the administration of Prime Minister

Theo de Meester Theodoor Herman "Theo" de Meester (16 December 1851 – 27 December 1919) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Liberal Union (LU) now merged into the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and economist. He served as Prime Minister of ...

, he served as the Dutch to the United Kingdom in London. During

Theo Heemskerk Theodorus "Theo" Heemskerk (20 July 1852 – 12 June 1932) was a Dutch politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 12 February 1908 until 29 August 1913. Heemskerk is particularly known ...

's tenure as prime minister from 1908 to 1913, Van Roijen was the Dutch Minister to the United States. From 1913 to 1919, he served as the Dutch Minister to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

under Prime Minister

Pieter Cort van der Linden Pieter Wilhelm Adrianus Cort van der Linden (14 May 1846 – 15 July 1935) was a Dutch politician who served as Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 29 August 1913 to 9 September 1918. Biography He was the last prime minister to lead a libe ...

and

Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck Charles Joseph Marie Ruijs de Beerenbrouck (1 December 1873 – 17 April 1936) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Roman Catholic State Party (RKSP), later formed to the Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic A ...

, followed by Dutch Minister to Italy

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 1919 to 1927. He again served as the Dutch Minister to the United States from 1927 to 1933. Upon his return to New York, he was honored by several Netherland Societies, including the

Netherland-America Foundation The Netherland-America Foundation also known as ”the NAF” is an American 501(c)(3), non-profit organization based in New York City with nine additional chapters in the United States and one chapter in the Netherlands. The mission of the foundati ...

. In 1931, he brought Queen Wilhelmina's greetings to the 41st annual dinner of the

Holland Society of New York The Holland Society of New York was founded in New York City in 1885 to collect information respecting the settlement and history of New Netherland. Its main objective is to find and preserve documentation about the inhabitants' lives and times s ...

Personal life

On 17 May 1904, Van Roijen was married to Albertina Taylor Winthrop (1871–1934) at the residence of the bride's mother, 38 East 37th Street overlooking

Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

in New York City, by the Reverend

William Reed Huntington William Reed Huntington (September 20, 1838 – July 26, 1909) was an American Episcopal priest and author, and known as the "First Presbyter of the Episcopal Church." Life Huntington was born September 20, 1838 in Lowell, Massachusetts. He wa ...

, rector of

Grace Church Grace Church may refer to: Canada * Grace Church on-the-Hill, Toronto China * Grace Church, Guanghan Poland * Grace Church, Teschen or Jesus Church, a Lutheran basilica in Teschen, Poland United Kingdom United States * Grace Cathedral (disam ...

. She was the daughter of banker Robert Winthrop and the former Kate Wilson Taylor (a daughter of

Moses Taylor Moses Taylor (January 11, 1806 – May 23, 1882) was a 19th-century New York merchant and banker and one of the wealthiest men of that century. At his death, his estate was reported to be worth $70 million, or about $ billion in today's dollars. ...

, a prominent railroad financier who served as president of National City Bank). Her brother,

Beekman Winthrop Beekman Winthrop (September 18, 1874 – November 10, 1940) was an American lawyer, government official and banker. He served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1904 to 1907, as assistant secretary of the Treasury in 1907–1909, and assistant se ...

, was the

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Assistant Secretary of the Navy (ASN) is the title given to certain civilian senior officials in the United States Department of the Navy. From 1861 to 1954, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was the second-highest civilian office in the Depar ...

in the

Taft Administration The presidency of William Howard Taft began on March 4, 1909, when William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th president of the United States, and ended on March 4, 1913. Taft, was a Republican from Ohio. The protégé and chosen successor of Pr ...

, and her sister Katharine Taylor Winthrop, was the wife of U.S. Senator Hamilton Fish Kean. Together, they were the parents of two sons: *

Herman van Roijen Jan Herman van Roijen (10 April 1905 – 16 March 1991) was a Dutch diplomat and politician. He was Dutch foreign minister in 1946. Early life Van Roijen was born in Constantinople on 10 April 1905. He was the son of Jan Herman van Roijen S ...

(1905–1991), who also served as Dutch Ambassador to the United States. He married Anne Snouck Hurgronje. * Robert Dudley van Roijen (1907–1981), a cattle farmer,

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

official, and owner of Robert B. Luce Inc., a Washington publishing firm. He married Hildegarde Portner Graham, half-sister of U.S. Ambassador to Austria

John P. Humes John Portner Humes (July 21, 1921September 30, 1985) was an American lawyer, diplomat and author who served as the United States Ambassador to Austria. Early life Humes attended St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire), St. Paul's School in Co ...

, in 1938. While on his annual vacation back in Holland, Van Roijen died at his villa 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 ...

on 31 August 1933.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Jan Herman, he was a grandfather of four. Through his son Robert, he was a grandfather of Peter Portner van Roijen, who was married to Beatrice Sterling Frelinghuysen (a daughter of U.S. Representative Peter Frelinghuysen Jr.), by the Right Reverend

Anson Phelps Stokes Anson Phelps Stokes (February 22, 1838 – June 28, 1913) was a wealthy American merchant, property developer, banker, genealogist and philanthropist. Born in New York City, he was the son of James Boulter and Caroline Stokes. His paternal gran ...

, in 1970, and Robert Dudley van Roijen Jr., who married Susan Emily Frelinghuysen (a daughter of author

Joseph S. Frelinghuysen Jr. Joseph Sherman Frelinghuysen Jr. (August 11, 1912 – January 8, 2005) was the author of ''Passages to Freedom'', about his escape from a prison camp in Italy during World War II. Early life Frelinghuysen was born in East Hampton, New York, the so ...

) in 1981.

References

External links

J.H. Van Roijen
at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roijen, Herman van 1871 births 1933 deaths Ambassadors of the Netherlands to the United States Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Spain Ambassadors of the Netherlands to Italy