Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck


Schimmelpenninck, Rutger Jan

 

Born Oct. 31,1761, in Deventer; died Mar. 25,1825, in Amsterdam. Dutch state figure; a lawyer by education and profession.

A moderate republican and a supporter of the French Revolution, Schimmelpenninck helped found the Batavian Republic in 1795. Between 1798 and 1805 he served intermittently as its ambassador in Paris. In November 1805 he was appointed by Napoleon I to the post of grand pensionary, or head of government, of the Batavian Republic. He opposed Napoleon’s efforts to turn the republic into a kingdom and was forced to resign in 1806. Schimmelpenninck was a member of the Dutch First Chamber from 1815 to 1821.