Willem Hendrik Johan van Idsinga (born 25 June 1822 – 16 November 1896) was a Dutch

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

and colonial official, who served as Governor of the Dutch Gold Coast between 1865 and 1867 and as Governor of Surinam between 29 June 1867 and 1 August 1873.

Biography

Van Idzinga was born in

Baardwijk Baardwijk is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of North Brabant, between Waalwijk and Drunen Drunen is a town in the municipality of Heusden in the southern Netherlands. The town is part of a region called the ('long road ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, to Hendrik van Idsinga, a pastor, and Joanna Elisabeth van Nimwegen. He made a career in the Royal Netherlands Navy, where he was a second lieutenant. In his late twenties, Van Idzinga began his political career in the colonies, first becoming ''landdrost'' of the district of Nickerie in Surinam between 1850 and 1853, before becoming Lieutenant Governor (Dutch: ''gezaghebber'') of Sint Eustatius (1853 – 1859) and

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the nort ...

(1859 – 1865). In 1865, he was first promoted to the rank of Governor, in the rather dilapidated colony of the Dutch Gold Coast. In 1867, he was appointed Governor of Surinam.

Personal life

He married Emmeline Theodora Elisabeth van Raders, daughter of former Governor of Surinam Reinier Frederik van Raders, on 31 October 1849 in

Paramaribo Paramaribo (; ; nicknamed Par'bo) is the capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname' ...

, Surinam. They had two sons and one daughter. Dutch politician Johan Willem Herman Meyert van Idsinga was one of their sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Idsinga, Willem Hendrik Johan van 1822 births 1896 deaths People from Waalwijk Colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast Governors of Suriname