Pieter Philips Jurriaan Quint Ondaatje (

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

, 1758 –

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, 18 April 1818) was a Dutch

patriot A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American Revolution * Patriot m ...

and politician. He is called the champion of Dutch democracy.Veel Information on Ondaatje by his descendant Michael Ondaatje
/ref>

Life

Ondaatje was born at Colombo on

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, as the son of a minister. He had a dark complexion as his mother was descended from Europeans on the island, known as "burghers". and his father, was mixed Tamil and Sinhala. At the age of 14 year he came to Amsterdam, becoming a pupil at the Athenaeum Illustre. He then moved to Utrecht to study law and theology. He rented a room in the same building as the poet

Jacobus Bellamy Jacob (Jacobus) Bellamy (November 12, 1757 in Vlissingen, Netherlands – March 11, 1786 in Utrecht) was a Dutch poet. Biographical notes Jacobus Bellamy was the son of Jacques Bellami jr. and Sara Hoefnagel. His father died when he was 4. His ...

, who complained about the noise Ondaatje caused in the building. Ondaatje became an officer in the

exercitiegenootschap An exercitiegenootschap (, ''exercise company'') or militia was a military organisation in the 18th century Netherlands, in the form of an armed private organization with a democratically chosen administration, aiming to train the citizens and the ...

exercising in the Sterrebos. He wrote petitions to the

vroedschap The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen' ...

on the rights and responsibilities of the

stadholder In the Low Countries, ''stadtholder'' ( nl, stadhouder ) was an office of steward, designated a medieval official and then a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

concerning the appointment of new candidates. On 11 March 1785 Utrecht's population came en masse to the city hall. They then entered the city hall under the leadership of Ondaatje, who made a fierce speech demanding the resignation of Sichterman if the

regenten In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the regenten (the Dutch plural for ''regent'') were the rulers of the Dutch Republic, the leaders of the Dutch cities or the heads of organisations (e.g. "regent of an orphanage"). Though not formally a hered ...

would not yield. He added that it would hard to leave the hall since many people were standing in the doorway. The regenten decided to give in, provided that Ondaatje would calm down the people. From the steps Ondaatje announced their victory and asked the people to go to their homes. The crowd dispersed but, when the danger had passed, further assemblies were banned and Ondaatje arrested for disturbing the peace and sent to jail. In May 1785 Ondaatje and his friend Von Liebeherr traveled many times to the Hague to get access to the

William V of Orange William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was a prince of Orange and the last stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...

. Ondaatje was forced to defend himself in the patriot newspaper '' De Post van den Neder-Rhijn''. As a refugee in northern France involved in the foundation of a brotherhood around contacts still in the Netherlands, Ondaatje sought help from

Johan Valckenaer Johan Valckenaer (Franeker, 21 January 1759 - Bennebroek, 1821) was a Dutch professor who specialized in Roman law. He was a passionate and combative patriot who promoted the right to bear weapons. In 1787 he went in exile in France and in 1793 h ...

and

Court Lambertus of Beyma Coert or Court Lambertus van Beyma ( Harlingen, 5 February 1753 - Dronrijp, 7 September 1820), son of Julius Matthijs van Beyma and Fokel Helena van Burmania, was a public notary and auctioneer, delegate and representative of the Frisian States, a ...

and proposed the formation of a Batavian Legion. By a raid into the Dutch Republic, Ondaatje put the rights of man first and laid his emphasis on freedom of speech and the people's sovereignty. The formation of a union between the Republic and the Belgian region was another sphere in which Ondaatje was interested, having withdrawn to

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

with Von Liebeherr. As his former aide, in 1792 Ondaatje wrote an apology to the Rijngraaf of Salm, who on 16 September 1787 left Utrecht and fled to Amsterdam. From 1794 Ondaatje was active in

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

and writer. Together with Samuel Wiselius,

Wybo Fijnje Wybo Fijnje (24 January 1750 in Zwolle – 2 October 1809 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch Mennonite minister, publisher in Delft, Patriot, exile, coup perpetrator, politician and - during the Batavian Republic and Kingdom of Holland - manager of the p ...

, Theodorus van Kooten and Von Liebeherr, Ondaatje was in 1796 appointed a member of the Committee to dissolve the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

Notes

External links

Website in Dutch with picture

Sources

''This article is a translation from the Dutch Wikipedia''. * Hulzen, A. van (1966) Utrecht in de patriottentijd, p. . * Schama, S. (1987) Patriots and Liberators, Revolution in the Netherlands 1780-1813, p. 84, 86, 89-92. * Wilschut, A. (2000) Goejanverwellesluis. De strijd tussen patriotten en prinsgezinden, 1780-1787, p. 41-3, 51. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ondaatje 1758 births 1818 deaths Members of the Dutch Patriots faction Sri Lankan people of Dutch descent Dutch people of Sri Lankan descent Q