Alidius Warmoldus Lambertus Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer (7 March 1888 – 16 August 1978) was a

Dutch nobleman The Dutch nobility is a small elite social class constisting of individuals or families recognized as noble, and with or without a title of nobility in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The existence of nobility was established in the Constitution ...

and statesman, primarily noted for being the last colonial

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, whic ...

, now

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. He was taken captive after accepting Japan's demands for an unconditional surrender of the islands on 9 March 1942.

Early life

In November 1915 he married Christine Marburg, the daughter of the American Ambassador to Belgium, Theodore Marburg. He joined the Dutch diplomatic service in 1915. Prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he was Queen's Commissioner in

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of t ...

(1925–33) and envoy to

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

(1933–36). On 16 September 1936, he became Governor-General of the Netherlands East Indies.

Second World War

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van Gouverneur-Generaal Tjarda van Starkenborgh Stachouwer TMnr 10018816

When the Netherlands surrendered to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

on 14 May 1940, Jhr. van Starkenborgh declared martial law in the Dutch East Indies, ordering 19 German cargo ships to be seized and all German nationals to be interned pending the liberation of the Netherlands. In December 1941, when

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

began operations in the Pacific, there were 93,000 Dutch troops and 5,000

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

n, British and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n soldiers to defend against an invasion of the Netherlands East Indies. By 15 February,

ese bombers were attacking the capital at Batavia (now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital city, capital and list of Indonesian cities by population, largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coa ...

) and government operations were removed to Bandoeng. On Sunday, 8 March, Lt. Gen.

Hitoshi Imamura was a Japanese general who served in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, and was subsequently convicted of war crimes. Early career A native of Sendai city, Miyagi Prefecture, Imamura's father was a judge. Imamura graduated from th ...

met with van Starkenborgh and set a deadline for an unconditional surrender. Jhr. van Starkenborgh ordered the Dutch and Allied troops to cease fire in a broadcast the next day, and the Allied forces surrendered at 1:00 p.m. Tjarda van Starkenborgh, his family, and other Dutch government and military personnel were taken prisoner. While the Japanese offered him to let him stay at his home under house arrest and receive special treatment he refused. He was separated from his wife, Christine, and daughters, who were interned in a different POW camp. Later, he was transferred to the Manchurian camp at Hsien (now

Liaoyuan Liaoyuan () is a prefecture-level city in Jilin province, People's Republic of China. It is bounded on the west and south by Tieling of Liaoning province, west and north by Siping, and east by Tonghua and Jilin City. Liaoyuan lies some south of C ...

), where he was held along with other prominent prisoners, including General Jonathan M. Wainwright, until the camp was liberated on 16 August 1945."Parachutists Rescue Wainwright From Enemy Prison Camp," ''Fresno Bee Republican'', 20 August 1945, p1

Post-war life

Jhr. van Starkenborgh returned to the Netherlands with his family, but declined a request from

Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

to serve as Governor-General, in that the Queen had pledged self-government to Indonesia in 1942. He resigned effective 16 October 1945. Instead, he became the Dutch Ambassador to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

(1945–48) and was then the Dutch Representative to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

(1950–56). After his retirement he settled a long-standing argument on canal links with Belgium in negotiations during 1963–66. With

Gerbrandy Gerbrandy is a West Frisian patronymic surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy (born Pieter Gerbrandij; 13 April 1885 – 7 September 1961) was a Dutch politician and jurist who se ...

and

Beel A beel ( Bengali and Assamese: বিল) is a billabong or a lake-like wetland with static water (as opposed to moving water in rivers and canals - typically called in Bengali, in the Ganges - Brahmaputra flood plains of the Eastern Indian ...

, he formed an advisory committee on the Greet Hofmans affair.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tjarda Van Starkenborgh Stachouwer, Alidius Warmoldus Lambertus 1888 births 1978 deaths Ambassadors of the Netherlands to France Permanent Representatives of the Netherlands to NATO Jonkheers of the Netherlands Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies People from Groningen (city) World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan King's and Queen's Commissioners of Groningen 20th-century Dutch East Indies people