59 Notable Peacemakers in Benelux
(Belgium, Netherlands & Luxembourg)

= Immortalized by bust or statue at Peace Palace, The Hague (Netherlands) in 1913 or later.
Click here for peace monuments in Belgium & Luxembourg. | Click here for peace monuments in the Netherlands.
Click here for return to worldwide list of notable peacemakers (& for meaning of symbols).


1466-1536 - Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam - Humanist, priest & theologian. "Inventor of peace." Wrote "Dulce Bellus Inexpertis" in 1517.

1496-1561 - Menno Simons - Priest but rejected Catholicism in 1536 & becamse a pacifist Anabaptist reformer & peacemaker. "Mennonite" is derived from his name.

1500

1509-1539 - Anneke Esaiasdochter - Anabaptist martyr remembered for letter to her infant son Isaiah in "Martyr's Mirror." Executed for heresy by drowning due to her connection to David Joris. Also called Anna Jansz.

c1530-1569 - Dirk Willems - Celebrated Anabaptist martyr. Escaping from prison but rescued his pursuer who fell through thin ice. Was then recaptured, tortured & killed for his faith.

1565-1621 - Hendrick de Keyser - Sculptor. Sculpted statue of Ersmus in Rotterdam (1622).

1583-1645 - Hugo Grotius - Jurist, philosopher, theologian, Christian apologist, playwright & poet. Wrote "On the Law of War & Peace" in 1625.

1584-1647 - Prince Frederick-Henry - Warrior, "Bringer of Peace" & founder of the Golden Age. Surrounded by peace symbols in paintings of Oranjezaal/Orange Hall, The Hague.

1596-1650 - René Descartes - Philosopher, mathematician & writer. Dubbed the "father of modern philosophy."

1600

1617-1681 - Gerard Terborch - Painter. Painted "Peace of Westphalia" about 1648.

1632-1677 - Baruch Spinoza - Rationalist. Laid groundwork for 18th century Enlightenment & modern biblical criticism.

1673-1743 - Cornelius van Bynkershoek - Jurist & legal theorist. Contributed to international law, particularly Law of the Sea.

1700
1800

1820-1887 - Edward Douwes Dekker - Novelist known as Multatuli. Wrote Max Havelaar (1860) denouncing colonialism in Dutch East Indies.

1829-1912 - Auguste Beernaert - Attended Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 & 1907. Helped found Permanent Court of Arbitration. 1909

1832-1913 - Jacobus Catharinus Cornelis den Beer Poortugael - General & statesman. Authority on laws of war. Attended many conferences including 1st Hague Peace Conf in 1899. Conf

1835-1919 - Andrew Carnegie - Peace philantrophist. Built Pan American Union, Washington, DC, 1910, & Peace Palace, The Hague, 1913.

1836-1925 - Abraham Pieter Cornelis van Karnebeek, Sr. - Politician. Minister of Foreign Afs. Pres Carnegie Foundation 1904-1923. Honored by fountain near Peace Palace. Father of Herman. Conf

1838-1913 - Tobias M. C. Asser - Jurist. "Dutch Moses." Created Permanent Court of Arbitration at 1st Hague Peace Conference in 1899. Conf 1911 with Alfred Fried

1846-1919 - Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis - Lutheran preacher who lost his faith, then started a political fight for workers. First socialist in Dutch parliament. P

1849-1935 - Bernard Loder - Jurist. On Dutch Supreme Court 1908-1921. First president of Permanent Court of International Justice 1921-1924

1850

1850-1929 - Jan ten Kate - Artist. "The Dutch Vereshchagin." Painted "Guerre a la Guerre / War on War" (showing Bertha von Suttner, Emile Zola , Leo Tolstoy & Henry Dunant) which hung in Jan Bloch's Museum of War and Peace in Luzern (Switzerland). Conf
1850-1937 - Johanna Waszklewicz-van Schilfgaarde - Baroness. Peace organizer. Founded Alliance of Women for Peace in 1899. "Pupil" of Bertha von Suttner. Spent last 35 years in Rome.

1854-1929 - Aletta Jacobs - Organized Women's Peace Congress in 1915. Helped found Women's International League for Peace & Freedom. Conf
1854-1943 - Henri La Fontaine - International lawyer. President of Intl. Peace Bureau 1907-1943. Received Nobel Peace Prize. 1913

1857-1927 - Johan G. D. Wateler - Banker. Bequeathed his estate to found Wateler Peace Prize awarded by Dutch Carnegie Foundation & renamed Carnegie-Wateler Prize. Named by Gerard Lössbroek.

1863-1930 - Edward W. Bok -Edited Ladies Home Journal. Pulitzer Prize. Created Amer Peace Award. Built Bok Tower w/peace symbols Florida.

1865-1915 - Edith Cavell - Nurse. Executed in Belgium for allowing German prisoners to escape.

1868-1918 - Nicolas II - Tsar (emperor) of Russia. In 1998 proposed a conference on peace & disarmament, leading to the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899.
1868-1944 - Paul Otlet - Author, entrepreneur, visionary, lawyer & peace activist. "Father of information science." Wrote "La Fin de la Guerre" in 1914.
1868-1945 - Yorozu Oda - Lawyer, academic & judge. Appointed in 1921 to Permanent Court of International Justice, where he heard 30 cases, dissenting from main judgment only once.

1869-1956 - Louis Raemaekers - Artist. Drew the horrors of war. "The supreme cartoonist of WW-I." Widely published.

1870-1926 - Hendrik Coenraad Dresselhuys - Politician. Chaired Nederlandsche Anti-Oorlog Raad (NAOR) & tried to stop WW-I. Conf

1874-1942 - Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek, Jr. - Politician. Minister of Foreign Afs 1918-27. President League of Nations 1921-22. Pres Carnegie Foundation 1935-42. Son of Abraham (qv). Conf
1874-1964 - Herbert Hoover - Mining engineer. Chaired Commission for Relief in Belgium 1914-19. Fought Flood of 1927. US president 1929-33.

1881-1932 - Jos Giesen - Antimilitarist. Author of Nieuwe geschiedenis; Het antimilitarisme van de daad in Nederland (1923). Named by Gerard Lössbroek.
1881-1942 - Titus Brandsma - Catholic priest & philosophy professor. "Apostle of Peace." Vehemently opposed Nazi ideology. Killed at Dachau.
1881-1943 - Rosa Manus - Pacifist & activist for women's suffrage & women's rights in general. Executed at Ravensbrück Concentration Camp. P Named by Gerard Lössbroek.

1883-1938 - Bartholomeus (Bart) de Ligt - Clergyman. Published De Wereldvrede magazine & worked in Christen-Socialisten party (BCS).
1883-1959 - Henri van der Mandere - Dominated Dutch peace movement for 40 years. Organized "Peace & League of Nations Exhibition" in The Hague 1930 - & a permanent museum a few years later.

1884-1962 - Jacob ter Meulen - Peace historian. Librarian of the Peace Palace in The Hague. Became Mennonite peace activist.
1884-1966 - Kees Boeke - Helped start FOR, SCI & WRI at his home in Bilthoven. Wrote "Cosmic View" in 1957.

1885-1967 - A. J. Muste - Clergyman & political activist. Worked in labor, pacifist & civil rights movements. P 1966 #7

1888-1973 - J.B.Th. Hugenholtz (Han Hugenholtz) - Minister & pacifist. Named by Gerard Lössbroek (Today, I found this very interesting document. Later, I shall read it more closely.).

1896-1978 - Truus Wijsmuller-Meijer - War hero & resistance fighter. Probably 2nd greatest savior of Jews (after Raoul Wallenberg).

1900

1906-1985 - Bert Röling - Jurist. Founder of Dutch polemology. On Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal 1946-1948. Helped found Intl Peace Research Assn in 1964.

1910-1969 - Father Georges Pire - Helped Displaced Persons. Founded L'Université de Paix in 1960. 1958

1916-1945 - George Maduro - Born in Curaçao. Student & army officer. Nazi resister. Madurodam Miniature City in The Hague is named for him.

1920-1997 - Benno Premsela - Designer. Helped form world's first gay rights organization (COC) in 1946. Came out on TV in 1964.

1923-Alive - Robert Muller - "Philosopher of the UN." Founded UN University for Peace in 1980 in Costa Rica. Chick here for his personal website.

1926-Alive - Frieda Menco - Knew Anne Frank in Amsterdam, Westerbork & Auschwitz. Interviewed in "Amsterdam" by Russell Shorto.

1929-1945 - Anne Frank - Holocaust victim. Died of typhus at age 16 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Famous for diary published in 1947.

1932-1996 - Henri Nouwen - Dutch-born Catholic priest. Worked with mentally challenged people. Wrote 40 books about spirituality. P

1937-Alive - Rosalyn Higgins - First female justice of Intl Court of Justice (World Court, The Hague) in 1995. ICJ president 2006-09.

1945-1990 - Joseph Doucé - Psychologist & Baptist pastor in Paris. Among founders of Intl Lesbian & Gay Association. Killed by French secret police?

1947-Alive - Arthur Eyffinger - Classicist & historian. Peace Palace Library 1985-1988, Intl Court of Justice 1988-2002. Founded JUDICAP in 2003.

1948-Alive - Peter van den Dungen - Born in Haarlem; lived in Best. Peace historian. Founded Intl Network of Museums for Peace (INMP) in 1992. See bibliography.

1950

c1950-Alive - Kee-Hang Lee & Song Chang-ju - Expatriates. Opened Yi Jun Peace Musuem in former Hotel De Jong, Wagenstraat 124A, The Hague, in August 1995.

1957-2004 - Theo van Gogh - Film director, writer & critic. Opposed Muslim treatment of women. Murdered by Mohammed Bouyeri.

1961-Alive - Kathryn Bolkovac - Police officer. Exposed prostitution & corrupt UN police in Bosnia. Subject of "The Whistleblower" film.

1969-Alive - Ayaan Hirsi Ali - Women's rights & atheist activist. Critical of genital mutilation & Islam. Dutch asylum in 1992. Wrote screenplay with Theo van Gogh.

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