Doctor Frederik Carel Gerretson (born

Kralingen Kralingen is a former village in the Dutch province of South Holland, now a neighbourhood of Rotterdam. It is located about 3 kilometres east of the city centre, in the borough Kralingen-Crooswijk. Kralingen was a separate municipality until 1895 ...

, 9 February 1884 – died

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Nethe ...

, 27 October 1958) was a Dutch writer, essayist, historian, and politician.

Early years

Gerretson was educated in a public elementary school in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

before continuing his education there and in

Amersfoort Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the secon ...

. He undertook officer training at the Koninklijke Militaire Academie in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda ...

before switching to academic study at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollm ...

, the Solvay Institute of Sociology and the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

.Dr. F.C. (Carel) Gerretson - Hoofdinhoud
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Academic career

Gerretson was a professor of colonial history at the

. He was particularly interested in the Dutch colonial experience, especially in the Dutch East Indies. In this area he was involved in a noted academic dispute with the historian

Annie Romein-Verschoor Anna Helena Margaretha (Annie) Romein-Verschoor (4 February 1885 – 5 February 1975) was a Dutch writer and historian. She received the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1970. Romein-Verschoor studied Dutch and history at the University of Leiden, w ...

over the personality of Jan Pieterszoon Coen. Being a Marxist, Romein-Verschoor characterized Coen as an imperialist. Gerretson, a staunch

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

and supporter of the empire, argued that Coen should be praised. Gerretson suggested that Coen was not widely appreciated because the Dutch people tend to avoid

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create an id ...

. Gerretson also published books on a number of books on the

petroleum industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of hydrocarbon exploration, exploration, extraction of petroleum, extraction, oil refinery, refining, Petroleum transport, transportation (of ...

, with works such as ''Geschiedenis der "Koninklijke"'' and a history of Royal Dutch, before branching out into other areas. Gerretson had been a secretary and board member at Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij, a predecessor of Royal Dutch, since 1917. He was awarded the prestigious

Constantijn Huygens Prize The Constantijn Huygens Prize (Dutch: ''Constantijn Huygens-prijs'') is a Dutch literary award.De Groene Amsterdammer'', ''Utrechts Provinciaal en Stedelijk Dagblad'', '' Leeuwarder Courant'', ''Het Vaderland'', ''

Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant ''NRC'', previously called ''NRC Handelsblad'' (), is a daily morning newspaper published in the Netherlands by NRC Media. It is generally accepted as a newspaper of record in the Netherlands. History ''NRC Handelsblad'' was first published on ...

'', '' Algemeen Handelsblad'' and numerous others. Using the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Geerten Gossaert, Gerretson also became noted as a poet with his work ''De moeder'' receiving regular reprints. He also published works under the name Arthur Lawick.

Political career

Gerretson's nationalist principles led him to politics and he initially was associated with the

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged ...

(CHU) before moving to the

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

politics of the National Union, of which he was one of the founders in 1925. In 1933 he took the leadership of the 'Corporative Concentration', an attempt to unite the Netherlands' divided extreme right spearheaded by

Alfred Haighton Coenraad Alfred Augustus Haighton (26 October 1896 – 13 April 1943) was a millionaire businessman and the leader of the Netherlands' first fascist movement. Fascism From a privileged background, Haighton was born in Rotterdam and was well e ...

, although Gerretson proved a divisive leader as he clashed frequently with

Jan Baars Joannes Antonius Baars ( Amsterdam, 30 June 1903 – Andijk, 22 April 1989) was a leading Dutch fascist during the 1930s. During the 1920s Baars emerged as part of the group associated with ''De Bezem'', a fascist journal aimed at the poor. Phil ...

. As a consequence Baars and his followers left the movement and the

General Dutch Fascist League The General Dutch Fascist League (in Dutch ''Algemeene Nederlandsche Fascisten Bond'', ANFB) was a Dutch fascist party. It was founded on 29 June 1932 and dissolved in 1934. The leader of ANFB was Jan Baars, a merchant from Amsterdam. History ANFB ...

, which was the main entity in the alliance, collapsed, allowing the initiative to pass to

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

-inclined elements such as the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands of Anton Mussert and Ernst Herman van Rappard's National Socialist Dutch Workers Party. Philip Rees, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the r ...

'', 1991, p. 18 Gerretson returned to the CHU and became a leading figure in the party at the head of a pro-colonial faction based in Utrecht. A strong voice on the right of the party, noted for his rhetoric, Gerretson would later become an isolated figure within the CHU. He was elected to the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

of the

States-General of the Netherlands The States General of the Netherlands ( nl, Staten-Generaal ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States ...

in 1951 for the CHU as a representative for

South Holland South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...

and served in the first parliamentary commission for foreign policy, where he was in disagreement with the spirit of decolonisation that pervaded in the commission. Gerretson was a CHU candidate in the 1956 general election but lost his Senate seat. He was a policy adviser for the party from 1951 to 1955 and was also a regular contributor to the CHU organ ''De Nederlander''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerretson, Carel 1884 births 1958 deaths Constantijn Huygens Prize winners Dutch essayists Dutch fascists 20th-century Dutch historians Politicians from Rotterdam Academic staff of Utrecht University Graduates of the Koninklijke Militaire Academie 20th-century essayists