Jacob Nienhuys (July 15, 1836, in
Rhenen
Rhenen () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in the central Netherlands.
The municipality also includes the villages of Achterberg, and Elst (Utrecht), Elst. The town lies at a geographically interesting location, n ...
– July 27, 1927, in
Bloemendaal
Bloemendaal () is a municipality and town in the Western Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. Bloemendaal is, together with Wassenaar, the wealthiest place in the Netherlands. It is located just west of Haa ...
) was the founder of
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
producer
Deli Company
Deli Company () is a trading and distribution company in the timber, construction product and tobacco industries. It began as large tobacco plantation and production operation established in 1869 by the Dutch in Sumatra. It was granted a land con ...
(Deli Maatschappij) on a
plantation
Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
established on a land concession from the
Sultanate of Deli
The Sultanate of Deli ( Indonesian: ''Kesultanan Deli Darul Maimoon''; Jawi: ) was a 1,820 km2 Malay state in east Sumatra founded in 1632 when a commander of the Aceh Sultanate, Gocah Pahlawan, conquered the area during the reign of Is ...
in
Sumatra
Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
during the era of the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
. He returned to the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
after he was indicted over the death of 7 plantation workers.
[Battle to preserve North Sumatra's smoking past]
Peter Janssen April 1, 2015 Nikkei Asian Review Jacob Theodoor Cremer
Jacob Theodoor Cremer (born 30 June 1847 in Zwolle – died 14 August 1923 in Amsterdam) was a tobacco magnate and administrator for the Deli Company in Sumatra. He was from the Netherlands. He also became a politician and was a member of the ...
took over administration of the company and Nienhuys maintained a role at the company becoming a very wealthy man as the company grew and its stock price increased.

Nienhuys commissioned the
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
city castle Herengracht 380-382 by the architect
Abraham Salm,
with virtually every room in a different style. The NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies now uses the building. He helped fund the Society for Folk Houses in Amsterdam. He was also involved in property development projects including the Villa Medan built in 1884 and named for the emerging city in Sumatra where the company established its headquarters. This was named after the city
Medan
Medan ( , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multi ...
on Sumatra.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nienhuys, Jacob
1836 births
1927 deaths
Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies
19th-century Dutch businesspeople
20th-century Dutch businesspeople
Businesspeople in the tobacco industry
People from Rhenen
Tobacco plantation owners