Petrus Josephus "Peter" van Kessel (born 25 December 1933) is a Dutch historian. He spent his career at the

Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome The Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (Dutch: Koninklijk Nederlands Instituut Rome), founded in 1904 as Nederlands Historisch Instituut te Rome, is a Dutch centre for studies in the Humanities based in Rome. It was awarded the title "Royal" by Qu ...

, ultimately becoming vice director. Van Kessel was born in

Batavia, Dutch East Indies Batavia was the capital of the Dutch East Indies. The area corresponds to present-day Jakarta, Indonesia. Batavia can refer to the city proper or its suburbs and hinterland, the Ommelanden, which included the much-larger area of the Residency ...

. He obtained a degree from the

Radboud University Nijmegen Radboud University (abbreviated as RU, nl, Radboud Universiteit , formerly ''Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen'') is a public research university located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. The university bears the name of Saint Radboud, a 9th century D ...

in 1961. Van Kessel became an intern at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome in 1962. He obtained his PhD in 1963 with a thesis titled: "''Duitse studenten in Padua rond 1600 en de controverse Rome-Venetië''". Shortly afterwards he was appointed as secretary of the institute. Van Kessel would work at the institute until 1994, ultimately becoming vice director. He was elected a corresponding member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences ( nl, Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, abbreviated: KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed ...

in 1977.

References

1933 births Living people Dutch expatriates in Italy 20th-century Dutch historians Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences People from Batavia, Dutch East Indies Radboud University Nijmegen alumni {{Netherlands-historian-stub