Isaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte (22 March 1822 – 3 March 1902) was a Dutch politician who briefly served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands () or, before 1945, the chairman of the Council of Ministers () is the ''de facto'' head of government of the Netherlands.''Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden'' onstitution of the Kingdom of the N ...

in 1866, and as Minister of Colonial Affairs from 1863 to 1866 and 1872 to 1874.

Career

Fransen van de Putte received training as an officer at the

Royal Naval College Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family or royalty Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, ...

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West Friesland (region), West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Med ...

and then worked for 10 years on the merchant ships of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

shipowner Anthony van Hoboken, where he rose to the position of

mate Mate may refer to: Science * Mate, one of a pair of animals involved in: ** Mate choice, intersexual selection *** Mate choice in humans ** Mating * Multi-antimicrobial extrusion protein, or MATE, an efflux transporter family of proteins Pers ...

. In 1849, he became an administrator at the sugar plantation Panji to Besuki on

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

. He eventually returned to the Netherlands and became a member of parliament in 1862. After a year of Chamber membership, in 1863 he became Minister of Colonial Affairs. In his first term, he worked on the abolition of the Cultivation System. In 1866, Fransen van de Putte had a disagreement with Johan Rudolph Thorbecke about colonial land policies. He joined Thorbecke's cabinet but was dismissed. In 1872, Fransen van de Putte returned to the cabinet of Gerrit de Vries. He served as a cabinet member during the

Aceh War The Aceh War (), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh ...

from 1873 to 1874. He and expedition commander Jan van Swieten criticized the often bloody and inhumane treatment of civilians, ranging from large-scale execution to deliberate destruction of livestock and rice fields in

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

. He tried in vain to mediate the conflict between the king and his eldest son,

William, Prince of Orange William, Prince of Orange (Willem Nicolaas Alexander Frederik Karel Hendrik; 4 September 1840 – 11 June 1879), was heir apparent to the Dutch throne as the eldest son of William III of the Netherlands, King William III from 17 March 1849 until ...

. This issue arose again in 1877 when he joined the cabinet of Jan Kappeyne van de Coppello. He asked that the ministry decide against the king before a wedding of the crown prince to Countess Mathilde van Limburg-Stirum. The former, however, did not go far.

Personal life

On 28 March 1850, in

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

, Fransen van de Putte married Lucie Henriette Cornets de Groot. He is buried in the cemetery at Old Oak Dunes in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. The Dutch ship was named after him.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

Parlement.com biography
1822 births 1902 deaths Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of colonial affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of the Navy of the Netherlands People from Goes Prime ministers of the Netherlands {{Netherlands-politician-stub