Johannes Servaas Lotsy (31 May 1808, in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

– 4 April 1863, 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 a Dutch politician. From 1852 to 1856 he was mayor of

Early life

Johannes Servaas Lotsy was born 31 May 1808 in Dordrecht. His father was Servaas Hendrik Lotsy secretary of Dordrecht. His mother was Dideria Clasina Aberson. In Breda his grandfather had married a descendant of

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the Fi ...

's sister Maria, who had married into the influential Hoeufft family. Johannes Lotsy went to the

latin school The Latin school was the grammar school of 14th- to 19th-century Europe, though the latter term was much more common in England. Emphasis was placed, as the name indicates, on learning to use Latin. The education given at Latin schools gave gre ...

in Dordecht. Here we was taught by rector Fenema and conrector Ross. Lotsy's nephew Jacob Hendrik Hoeufft, a famous Latin poet influenced his love for the classical studies. In 1828 Lotsy went to Leiden University. In 1831 he became a sergeant in the volunteer company of the Leiden students during the Ten Days' Campaign. He graduated on 31 June 1832 with the thesis: ''Quaedam de nullitatibus secundum codicis civilis Gallici principia''.

Career

After his graduation Lotsy became a lawyer in Dordrecht, creating a respected practice. In 1847 he was chosen as an extraordinary member of 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 ...

(Tweede Kamer) for the province South Holland. In 1849 he was chosen as a regular member for the Dordrecht district, and seated with the liberals. He was also a member of the Dordrecht municipal council,

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the Latin School of Dordrecht, and secretary of Dordrecht. On 8 May 1852 Lotsy became Mayor of Dordrecht, and left the Tweede Kamer. In 1853 the

states-provincial The provincial council (, PS), also known as the States Provincial, is the provincial parliament and legislative assembly in each of the provinces of the Netherlands. It is elected for each province simultaneously once every four years and has ...

of South Holland chose him as a member of the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(Eerste Kamer). Lotsy held this seat till August 1856.

Minister of the Navy

On 1 August 1856 Lotsy became Minister of the Navy. The oratory skills that his predecessors lacked, were possessed in a high degree by Lotsy. He was a civilian, and therefore got Captain-lt B.G. Escher as director-general, later designated as inspector and adviser. Lotsy started with a general memo against insubordination that made a bad impression on the corps. Later he changed the payment of the rank and file of the navy from three-monthly to monthly. On 16 December 1856 the king made an important decision on corporal punishment in the navy, something that deterred many nationals from serving. The ship of the line Kortenaar was moved to Willemsoord, and became the new guard ship there. On 25 April 1857 the education of

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

on board that ship became a royal institute. While the Dutch Navy was still busy acquiring the first wooden screw steam ships of the plan 1855, the Battle of Kinburn had shown that these were not quite adequate. The

floating battery A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship. History Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...

pointed to a new course, that of armoring ships. On 1 September 1857 the Dutch navy had one screw frigate, two (three) screw corvettes, three small screw vessels and 15 steam paddle ships. It was probably on account of the developments in armor that Lotsy busied himself primarily with building the smaller ships of the plan. By the end of 1857 a second frigate with auxiliary power, the first

Evertsen-class frigate The ''Evertsen'' class was a class of steam frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. The class comprised ''Evertsen'' and ''Zeeland'' Dutch Naval Plans in the 1850s Plan 1852: First reaction to the screw The first coherent Dutch reaction to the ...

had been launched, and a floating battery was under construction. Lotsy then got a slightly higher sum for building the second dry dock in Willemsoord. It was the affair that had ended the career of his predecessor, and proved Lotsy's political skill. From 1857 to 1860 the Dutch navy deployed a squadron in the Mediterranean. It was a show of force and activity, certainly when in 1860 the frigates with auxiliary power Wassenaar, Evertsen and Zeeland sailed as a squadron for some time. Nevertheless, Lotsy's policy was widely disapproved in the media. Especially his statement that ''the days of greatness and glory at sea were a thing of the past'' was widely disliked. Meanwhile, Lotsy succeeded in securing the funds for action. On 15 May 1859 the budget for the navy rose to an unheard of 10,249,025 guilders. By the time that Lotsy resigned in March 1861, the fleet had been vastly improved. There were five floating batteries, three steam frigates, 10 screw steam ships, and 12 small steam ships. Also the dry dock at Willemsoord had been repaired and the new dry dock had been finished. After his dismissal King William made Lotsy a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

, a distinction awarded for merit. Lotsy was also minister of finance ad interim and minister of colonies ad interim for a few months in 1861.

Other activity

Early in life Lotsy wrote ''De Warande van Tilburg verdedigd. Een bijdrage tot het Jagtrecht''. Pleitrede met Bijlagen (1840). It was a speech he made in court in a case in 1839. In local politics Lotsy was instrumental in founding the

Gymnasium (school) ''Gymnasium'' (and variations of the word) is a term in various European languages for a secondary school that prepares students for higher education at a university. It is comparable to the US English term '' preparatory high school''. Bef ...

in Dordrecht.

Family

Lotsy was married to Perina Cornelia Storm van 's Gravesande. They had six children. Lotsy died on 4 April 1863 after a four-week illness. He was buried in silence at the cemetery

Oud Eik en Duinen Oud Eik en Duinen is a cemetery in The Hague, the Netherlands, formerly called Eik en Duinen and also nicknamed "the Dutch Père-Lachaise". The cemetery is built around a chapel constructed around 1247 by William II of Holland in honor of his fa ...

on 10 April. Lotsy's oldest son Karel Johannes Julianus Lotsy (1837-1905) founded the N.V. Brandverzekerings Maatschappij "Holland van 1859" in Dordrecht.

References

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Notes

External links

Mr. J.S. Lotsy
Parlement.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lotsy, Johannes Servaas 1808 births 1863 deaths 19th-century Dutch civil servants 19th-century Dutch lawyers 19th-century Dutch politicians Mayors of Dordrecht Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of Colonial Affairs of the Netherlands Ministers of Finance of the Netherlands Ministers of the Navy of the Netherlands Ministers of State (Netherlands) Municipal councillors of Dordrecht