Johan Engelbert Elias (18 August 1875 – 1 August 1959) was a Dutch historian known mostly for his important work on the history of

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 ...

's regency ("

Vroedschap The ''vroedschap'' () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vadere ...

van Amsterdam"). He is considered the father of genealogical research in the Netherlands.

Biography

He was born in a

canal house A canal house () is a (usually old) house overlooking a canal. These houses are often slim, high and deep. Canal houses usually had a basement and a loft and attic where trade goods could be stored. A special Beam (structure), beam or pulley in ...

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinseng ...

to Gerbrand Pieter Elias, wealthy member of the Amsterdam regency family ''Elias'', and Johanna Engelberta ter Meulen. From 1892 to 1905 he worked as volunteer documentalist for the

Amsterdam City Archives The Amsterdam City Archives () preserves documents pertaining to the history of Amsterdam and provides information about the city. With archives covering a shelf-length of about 50 kilometres, the Amsterdam City Archives is the largest municipal a ...

. During this time he collected data on Amsterdam regency members from the start of the

Dutch republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...

in 1578 until the French occupation in 1795. He was able to collect data on 14,000 people, which he published in 1903 and 1905 as a two-volume work called ''De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578-1795''. The introduction to the first volume was published separately as ''Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsche Regentenpatriciaat'' in 1923. It shows the various relationships among Amsterdam regent families and their archives. In 1922 he was awarded an honorary title from the

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 ...

, and in 1927 he became a member of the

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (, KNAW) is an organization dedicated to the advancement of science and literature in the Netherlands. The academy is housed in the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam. In addition to various advisory a ...

(KNAW).

Works

*
De vroedschap van Amsterdam 1578-1795
', 1903-1905 *''Schetsen uit de geschiedenis van het zeewezen'', 6 volumes, 1916-1930 *''Het voorspel van den eersten Engelschen oorlog'', 2 volumes, 1920 *
Geschiedenis van het Amsterdamsche Regentenpatriciaat
', 1923 *''De tweede Engelsche oorlog als het keerpunt in onze betrekkingen met Engeland'', 1930 *''De vlootbouw in Nederland in de eerste helft der 17e eeuw, 1596-1655'', 1933 *''De geschiedenis van een Amsterdamsche regentenfamilie. Het geslacht Elias'', 1937 *
Het Geslacht Elias : de geschiedenis van Een Amsterdamsche Regentenfamilie
', 1937, 289 pp. (

Delpher Delpher is a website providing full-text Dutch-language digitized historical newspapers, books, journals and copy sheets for radio news broadcasts. The material is provided by libraries, museums and other heritage institutions and is developed and ...

.nl) *''Genealogie van het geslacht Elias, Faas Elias en Witsen Elias'', Assen, 1942

References

External links

P.C.A. Geyl, 'Levensbericht', in: ''Jaarboek KNAW'', 1960J.R. Bruijn, 'Elias, Johan Engelbert (1875-1959)', in: ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland'' 2 (1985)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elias, Johan Engelbert 20th-century Dutch historians 1875 births 1959 deaths Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Writers from Amsterdam