220px, Willem Aarnoud van Citters Willem Aarnoud or Aarnout van Citters (28 January 1741 – 22 September 1811) was a Dutch politician who served as the last Grand Pensionary of Zeeland. He was appointed to the role in 1788 (succeeding Laurens van de Spiegel) and held it until 1795, when the

Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, also known as the (Seven) United Provinces, officially as the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: ''Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden''), and commonly referred to in historiography ...

was overthrown and replaced by the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic ( nl, Bataafse Republiek; french: République Batave) was the successor state to the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 and ended on 5 June 1806, with the accession of Louis Bona ...

Life

He was born in

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

to Aarnout van Citters and Sara Jacoba Ockerse, making him a nephew of Wilhem van Citters, grand pensionary of Zeeland from 1760 to 1766. He served several roles in the government of Middelburg – councillor (1761–1793), schepen (1762–1786), treasurer (1769–1781) and mayor (1779, 1782, 1785 and 1788). He played a dominant role in Zeeland's

Orange Party The Orange Party (, ORANGE) is a political party in the Comoros led by Mohamed Daoudou. History The party first contested national elections in the 2015 parliamentary elections, when it received 6% of the vote, but failed to win a seat. The ...

and was one of the authors of the 1787 Act of Obligation which aimed to organise the Orangists and suppress the Patriots. He was also involved in the negotiations at

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

which aimed to put stadhouder

William V, Prince 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 ...

back in power. He died in

Arnemuiden Arnemuiden is a city of around 5000 people in the municipality of Middelburg in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands. It is located on the former island of Walcheren, about 3 km east of the city of Middelburg. On the 23 September 1338, ...

in 1811.

Sources

* Biografisch woordenboek der Nederlanden – van der Aa * L.P. van de Spiegel (1737–1800) deel I & II – F.B. Schotanus * Mr Johan van der Perre (1738–1790) – Dr H.J. Zuidervaart {{DEFAULTSORT:Citters, Will Grand Pensionaries Dutch Orangists 1741 births 1811 deaths