Abraham Arnold Lodewijk "Bram" Rutgers (24 July 1884 – 26 September 1966) was a Dutch botanist and politician who served as Governor-General of Suriname from 1928 until 1933, the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

from 1936 until 1959, and served as its

Vice-President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

from 1956 onwards. He was a member of the

Anti-Revolutionary Party The Anti-Revolutionary Party (, ARP) was a Protestant conservative and Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The party was founded in 1879 by Abraham Kuyper, a neo-Calvinist theologian and minister who served as Prime Mi ...

(ARP).

Biography

Rutgers was born on 24 July 1884 in

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 ...

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 ...

. He wanted to study mathematics and physics, however his family belonged to the Christian Reformed Church which implied that he had to go to the

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public university, public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in ...

which did not teach physics, therefore, he also enlisted at the secular

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. In 1910, he obtained his doctorate in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. After graduating, Rutgers left for

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 ...

(nowadays: Indonesia) to work for the Department of Agriculture. On 14 November 1910, he married the daughter of

Alexander Idenburg Alexander Willem Frederik Idenburg (23 July 1861 – 28 February 1935) was a Dutch military officer and politician of the Anti-Revolutionary Party who served as Governor-General of Suriname from 1905 until 1908, and the Dutch East Indies from 190 ...

who was the Gouvernor of the Dutch East Indies. Between 1916 and 1922, he served as the President of the experimental rubber station AVROS in

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 ...

, Sumatra.

Suriname

On 20 January 1928, Rutgers was appointed Governor-General of Suriname, however he did not accept the nomination until 30 May. The

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

also caused an economic crisis in Suriname, and attempts to stimulate agriculture failed. In December 1932,

Anton de Kom Cornelis Gerhard Anton de Kom (22 February 1898 – 24 April 1945) was a Surinamese resistance fighter and anti-colonialist author. He was arrested in Surinam and the protest against his arrest resulted in two deaths. De Kom was subsequently exile ...

, a communist who was born in Suriname, was told that his mother was very ill. Rutgers was notified of his arrival, and ordered a constant watch. On 1 February 1933, a planned meeting was cancelled after a large armed police force showed up. De Kom decided to go to Rutgers to complain, and was arrested on route. On 7 February, a large crowd gathered on Oranjeplein demanding de Kom's release. When the crowd refused to leave, the police opened fire, killing two people and wounding 22. On 10 May, de Kom was exiled to the Netherlands without trial. In March 1933, Rutgers decided to run for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

in the Netherlands. He was elected, and left for the Netherlands on 3 August. On 6 July 1933, ''

Algemeen Handelsblad ''Algemeen Handelsblad'' was a Dutch daily newspaper founded in 1828 by stockbroker . Originally liberal, economically focused, and Amsterdam-based, the paper merged in 1970 with the ''Nieuwe Rotterdamse Courant'' to form ''NRC Handelsblad''. H ...

'' complimented Rutgers on lowering the deficit in Suriname despite an economic depression and less income. He served in parliament until 21 January 1936. He was subsequently appointed to the

, the advisory council of the government.

World War II

After the

German invasion of the Netherlands The German invasion of the Netherlands (), otherwise known as the Battle of the Netherlands (), was a military campaign, part of Case Yellow (), the Nazi German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) and Fran ...

, Rutgers managed to persuade the German authority to keep the Administrative Dispute Division of the Council of State operational. In 1940, Dutch politicians were taken hostage as a reprisal for the

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

of Germans in the Dutch colonies. In January 1941, Rutgers was interned at

Kamp Schoorl Schoorl transit camp (, ), originally a Dutch army camp (1939–1940), was a Nazi concentration camp (1940–1941) near the village of Schoorl in the Netherlands. History ''Kamp Schoorl'' was built in 1939 as a Dutch army camp. Nazi Germany ...

, a political prisoner and transit camp. He was temporarily transferred to

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Nazi Germany, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (pre-1938 ...

when the German authority received word that German internees in

Mariënburg Mariënburg is a former sugarcane plantation, factory and village, situated in the district of Commewijne, in northern Suriname. History In 1745, Mariënburg was founded as a sugar plantation by Maria de la Jaille. After several owner changes, t ...

, Suriname were not well treated. Rutgers was released in December 1942. Starting in 1943, Rutgers served in the Vaderlandsch Comité, a resistance organisation headed by the later Prime Minister

Willem Drees Willem Drees Sr. (; 5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) ...

, which sent advice and intelligence to the

Dutch government-in-exile The Dutch government-in-exile (), also known as the London Cabinet (), was the government in exile of the Netherlands, supervised by Queen Wilhelmina, that fled to London after the German invasion of the country during World War II on 10 May 19 ...

Later life

Between 7 May 1945 and 15 September 1945, Rutgers was acting

Queen's commissioner A King's commissioner (, ''CvdK'') is the head of government and legislature in a province of the Netherlands. When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Queen's commissioner (''Commissaris van de Koningin''). A commissioner is appointed ...

for the province of

South Holland South Holland ( ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.8 million as of January 2023 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely populated areas. ...

. In 1946, he led a government mission to the

Dutch West Indies The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the New World territories, colonies, and countries (former and current) of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands located in the Caribbean Sea, mainly the norther ...

to evaluate the political situation. Between 1950 and 1953, Rutgers was a member of the Van Schaik Commission which was tasked to make a general review of the

Constitution of the Netherlands The Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands of 24 August 1815 () is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the Constitution, fundamental law of the Netherlands, Netherlands proper (the territo ...

. On 16 May 1956, he was appointed Vice-President of the Council of State. He retired on 1 August 1959. Rutgers died on 26 September 1966 in

Wassenaar Wassenaar (; population: in ) is a municipality and town located in the province of South Holland, on the western coast of the Netherlands. An affluent suburb of The Hague, Wassenaar lies north of that city on the N44/A44 highway near the Nort ...

, at the age of 82.

Honours

* Commander in the

Order of Orange Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

. * Commander in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

. * Commander in the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. * Grand Cross in the

Order of the Oak Crown The Order of the Oak Crown (, , ) is an order (honour), order of the Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. History The Order of the Oak Crown was established in 1841 by William II of the Netherlands, Grand Duke William II, who was also King o ...

. * Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutgers, Bram 1884 births 1966 deaths Governors of Suriname 20th-century Dutch botanists Politicians from Amsterdam Anti-Revolutionary Party politicians Vice-presidents of the Council of State (Netherlands) Members of the Council of State (Netherlands) University of Amsterdam alumni Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam alumni Utrecht University alumni Dutch resistance members Buchenwald concentration camp survivors King's and Queen's Commissioners of South Holland Commanders of the Legion of Honour Commanders of the Order of Orange-Nassau Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)