Julius Philip Jacob Adriaan, Count van Zuylen van Nijevelt (19 August 1819 – 1 July 1894) was a conservative Dutch

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who served as

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

from 1860 until 1861, and again from 1866 until 1868. During his second ministership, he also served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Early life

Julius Philip Jacob Adriaan van Zuylen van Nijevelt was born in Dommeldange in

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

on 19 August 1819 to Pieter Hendrik, Count van Zuylen van Nijevelt and Suzanna Martha, Baroness van Zuylen van Nijevelt. He started studying at

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 ...

on 24 January 1838, and obtained the

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree on 28 June 1841.

Career

Van Zuylen van Nijevelt started his diplomatic career as attaché at the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

in February 1842, at the age of 23. He occupied diplomatic posts in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

before returning to The Hague in 1848. In spring of that year, he was sent to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in the aftermath of the

French Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

. After his return, he became

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, and subsequently secretary to the diplomatic mission. During his time in Brussels, Van Zuylen van Nijevelt was influenced by the Réveil movement, and felt uneasy having to serve a Catholic envoy and a Catholic Minister of Foreign Affairs. He felt more at home at his following post in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, where he observed the anti-Catholic reaction to the ''

Universalis Ecclesiae was a papal bull of 29 September 1850 by which Pope Pius IX recreated the Roman Catholic diocesan hierarchy in England, which had been extinguished with the death of the last Marian bishop in the reign of Elizabeth I. New names were given to ...

'' in 1850. He was delighted to hear of the similar reaction to the

reestablishment of the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands On 4 March 1853, Pope Pius IX restored the episcopal hierarchy in the Netherlands with the papal bull ''Ex qua die arcano'', Translated in after the Dutch Constitutional Reform of 1848 had made this possible. The re-establishment of the episcopal ...

in 1853. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt was sent to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

in 1855 to succeed the

resident minister A resident minister, or resident for short, is a government official required to take up permanent residence in another country. A representative of his government, he officially has diplomatic functions which are often seen as a form of ind ...

, who had been recalled to the Netherlands following corruption charges. During the six years he spent there, he acted as protector and promotor of Christianity, which earned him international recognition. He offered The Union Church of Istanbul to use the Dutch Chapel. He also wrote reports on Dutch colonisation, including on

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

, and sought out locations for Dutch trading posts in anticipation of the opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

.Huizinga, p. 207 Following the 1860 Dutch general election,

Floris Adriaan van Hall Floris Adriaan van Hall, Baron of Hall (15 May 1791 – 29 March 1866) was a nobleman and statesman from the Netherlands in the 19th century. He played an important role as representative of the Amsterdam trade and banking sector, and later ...

was tasked with forming a government. While he had sought the ministerial post of Foreign Affairs for himself, he was forced to take the Finance portfolio. Instead, Van Zuylen van Nijevelt was recalled to be appointed

on 4 April 1860. His policy was aimed at maintaining neutrality, avoiding entanglement and guarding against foreign interference. The Netherlands' role in international affairs lay beyond Europe, in its colonies. He resigned on 14 January 1861 in protest of Van Hall's political opportunism. In April 1861, he was elected to 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 ...

for

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

, a seat vacated by his cousin Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt, who had succeeded him as Minister of Foreign Affairs. Van Zuylen van Nijevelt served as

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands () or, before 1945, the chairman of the Council of Ministers () is the ''de facto'' head of government of the Netherlands.''Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden'' onstitution of the Kingdom of the N ...

(chairman of the Council of Ministers) from 1866 to 1868. He also served as minister of Foreign Affairs from 1860 to 1861, and again from 1866 tot 1868.

Private life

He married in Scotland and had three sons and two daughters. A member of the prominent Rotterdam patrician (''

regenten The ''regenten'' ( Dutch plural for ''regent'') were the rulers of the Dutch Republic from the 16th through the 18th century, the leaders of the Dutch cities or the heads of organisations (e.g. "regent of an orphanage"). Though not formally a her ...

'') family of

Van Zuylen van Nijevelt Van Zuylen van Nijevelt () is a noble family from the region of Rotterdam, town and region where several members of the family played a significant role. The head of the family is the Count van Zuylen van Nijevelt; the rest of the family bears ...

, he was a son of

Pieter Hendrik van Zuylen van Nijevelt Pieter Hendrik van Zuylen van Nijevelt (1 July 1782 in Kampen (Overijssel), Kampen – 25 January 1825 in Utrecht (city), Utrecht) was a Dutch people, Dutch count and baron who served as a general in the French and Dutch armies during the Napol ...

, a Dutch general who was present at the

Battle of Waterloo The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, Belgium, Waterloo (then in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium), marking the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The French Imperial Army (1804–1815), Frenc ...

, among others.

Honours

* 1849: Officer in the Order of Leopold.Handelsblad (Het) 03-05-1849

References

Sources

* *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zuylen Van Nijevelt, Julius 1819 births 1894 deaths Prime ministers of the Netherlands Ministers of foreign affairs of the Netherlands Independent politicians in the Netherlands 19th-century Dutch diplomats Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Politicians from Luxembourg City Counts Van Zuylen van Nijevelt