Jan van Hooff Auke Hettema Markt Eindhoven

Johan Frederik Rudolph "Jan" van Hooff (26 August 1755 – 13 June 1816, in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

) was a Dutch Patriot

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and

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Biography

Van Hooff was born in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Martinus van Hooff ( co-mayor of the town) and Anna Elisabeth Bols van Arendonck. He studied law, got his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in law at Nancy and opened a law practice in Eindhoven. He was elected co-mayor of the town in 1786. During his career he was mayor of Eindhoven, member of the First National Assembly, the Second National Assembly, the Executive Power and the Legislative Power. In 1786 he founded the ''Vaderlandse Sociëteit Concordia'' (English: ''National Society Concordia'') together with Amandus van Moorsel; this society was a social club in name, but a Patriot organization in reality. Several town notables joined this society. In 1787 Jan van Hoff and several other Eindhoven Patriots traveled to Utrecht to join the Patriot Army. This army was defeated by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n Army, after which Van Hooff was arrested (in October 1787) for his Patriottic activities, on the orders of the States-General of the Netherlands; he was taken to

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 ...

and imprisoned. He was released shortly thereafter and returned to Eindhoven. However, he was re-arrested on 12 February 1788 (in Eindhoven this time), but managed to escape. In 1789 there was a failed, pro-French rebellion in the Southern Netherlands. Fearing that the insurrection would spread to the Generality Lands, the States-General posted a garrison in Eindhoven; Van Hooff left the town. In 1792 he was in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

together with

Herman Willem Daendels Herman Willem Daendels (21 October 1762 – 2 May 1818) was a Dutch revolutionary, general and politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811. Early life Born in Hattem, Netherlands, on 21 Octob ...

, where the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

had been proclaimed. He sought (and received) French support for the ''reparation of Batavian freedom'' (Dutch: ''herstelling van de Bataafse vrijheid''); French troops arrived in Eindhoven on 6 March 1793 and the freedom tree was planted in the town on that day. The French were subsequently pushed back by the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

ns, but took permanent possession of the town following the 1794 Battle of Fleurus. Van Hooff became a member of the Batavian Revolutionary Committee that year, but got into a conflict with Maximilien Robespierre. He was arrested on 28 May and imprisoned at the Paris

Conciergerie The Conciergerie () ( en, Lodge) is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which also ...

. A clerical error in the spelling of his name saved Van Hooff from the guillotine and he was released again on 29 October. He remained in freedom until the coup of 22 January 1798, after which he was arrested and imprisoned — first at the

Gevangenpoort The Gevangenpoort (''Prisoner's Gate'') is a former gate and medieval prison on the Buitenhof in The Hague, Netherlands. It is situated next to the 18th-century art gallery founded by William V, Prince of Orange in 1774 known as the ''Prince Will ...

in The Hague, later at the Palace Huis Ten Bosch. He was finally released on 14 July. He served as Minister for Justice and was a member of the State Council until 1810. He then retired and spent the rest of his life as a citizen without office. He died without having been married.

Monuments and statues

The city of Eindhoven commissioned Auke Hettema to make a statue of Van Hooff in 1981. The statue is currently on the Markt in Eindhoven.

References

*''The information on this page, or an earlier version thereof, is taken partially or in whole fro
www.parlement.com
Such copying is allowed under citation of source. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hooff, Jan van 1755 births 1816 deaths 18th-century Dutch lawyers Ministers of Justice of the Netherlands Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) Mayors of Eindhoven Members of the Dutch Patriots faction University of Lorraine alumni Deputies of the National Assembly of the Batavian Republic People of the Kingdom of Holland