Willem Anne Lestevenon van Berkenrode (born in Paris on 14 October 1750 and died at

La Ferté-Gaucher La Ferté-Gaucher () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in north-central France. Population Inhabitants of La Ferté-Gaucher are called ''Ferto ...

on 4 October 1830) was a Dutch politician and art collector.

Biography

Willem Anne Lestevenon was born in Paris, where his father,

Mattheus Lestevenon Mattheus Lestevenon, heer van Berckenrode (1715–1797, The Hague) was a city-secretary and schepen in Amsterdam, then Dutch ambassador to France. Lestevenon played an important role in the year 1748 and in the negotiations for the Treaty of Pari ...

, was an ambassador of the United Provinces to the

King of France France was ruled by monarchs from the establishment of the kingdom of West Francia in 843 until the end of the Second French Empire in 1870, with several interruptions. Classical French historiography usually regards Clovis I, king of the Fra ...

. In 1760 he was sent to

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

to study law. Upon graduation in 1768 he became bailiff of the town and Barony of

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. Ten years later, he moved to

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

and was appointed to the city's

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 ...

and joined the

Teylers Second Society Teylers Tweede Genootschap (English: Teylers Second Society), also known as the ''Wetenschappelijk Genootschap'' (Scientific Society) is one of the two societies founded within the Teylers Stichting with the purpose to promote and award prizes fo ...

(1780), where he supported Martinus van Marum's utilitarian approach of the

natural sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

as he expected these sciences to be fundamental for the recovery of Haarlem's textile industry. Lestevenon was sent to the States from Holland in 1783 and then to the States General of the United Provinces in the following year. In July 1785, the States designated him on a special mission to Marie-Christine von Habsburg-Lorraine, governor of the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

to solve the problems which had started with the

Kettle War The Kettle War () was a military confrontation between the forces of both the Holy Roman Empire and the Republic of the Seven Netherlands on 8 October 1784. It was named the Kettle War because the only shot fired hit a soup kettle. Background ...

, resulting in the

Treaty of Fontainebleau (1785) The Treaty of Fontainebleau was signed on November 8, 1785 in Fontainebleau between Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, ruler of the Habsburg monarchy, and the States-General of the United Provinces. Based on the terms of the accord, the United Provinc ...

. Lestevenon was an ardent supporter of the Batavian

patriots A patriot is a person with the quality of patriotism. Patriot(s) or The Patriot(s) may also refer to: Political and military groups United States * Patriot (American Revolution), those who supported the cause of independence in the American R ...

, leading

William V of Orange William V (Willem Batavus; 8 March 1748 – 9 April 1806) was Prince of Orange and the last Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic. He went into exile to London in 1795. He was furthermore ruler of the Principality of Orange-Nassau until his death in ...

to the sack. In February 1788 Lestevenon lost all his functions and traveled to Rome, where he bought a collection of mainly Italian drawings by masters like

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

Guercino Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (February 8, 1591 – December 22, 1666),Miller, 1964 better known as (il) Guercino (), was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous n ...

Salvator Rosa Salvator Rosa (1615 – March 15, 1673) is best known today as an Italian Baroque painter, whose romanticized landscapes and history paintings, often set in dark and untamed nature, exerted considerable influence from the 17th century into the ...

Claude Lorrain Claude Lorrain (; born Claude Gellée , called ''le Lorrain'' in French; traditionally just Claude in English; c. 1600 – 23 November 1682) was a French painter, draughtsman and etcher of the Baroque era. He spent most of his life in I ...

and

Hendrick Goltzius Hendrick Goltzius (, ; born Goltz; January or February 1558 – 1 January 1617) was a German-born Dutch printmaker, draftsman, and painter. He was the leading Dutch engraver of the early Baroque period, or Northern Mannerism, lauded for his ...

, formerly owned by

Livio Odescalchi Livio Odescalchi (March 10, 1652 — September 8, 1713), Duke of Bracciano, Ceri and Sirmium, was an Italian nobleman of the Odescalchi family. Biography Livio Odescalchi was born in Rome in 1655, the son of Carlo Odescalchi (1607-1673) and Be ...

and

Christina I of Sweden Christina (; 18 December O.S. 8 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 8 December1626 – 19 April 1689), a member of the House of Vasa, was Monarchy of Sweden, Queen of Sweden from ...

, now in the

Teylers Museum Teylers Museum () is an Art museum, art, Natural history museum, natural history, and science museum in Haarlem, Netherlands. Established in 1778, Teylers Museum was founded as a centre for contemporary art and science. The historic centre of the ...

(1700 drawings), the Louvre, the British Museum and the MET. When the

Batavian Revolution The Batavian Revolution () was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the Dutch Republic and saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic. The initial period, from about 1780 to ...

broke out in January 1795 and William V fled to England, Lestevenon purged the municipality of the city to replace the Orangemen with patriots. Considered one of the ablest diplomats of the country, he was one of the Batavian representatives to negotiate with

Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès (3 May 174820 June 1836), usually known as the Abbé Sieyès (; ), was a French Catholic priest, ''abbé'', and political writer who was a leading political theorist of the French Revolution (1789–1799); he also held off ...

and

Jean-François Reubell Jean-François () is a French given name. Notable people bearing the given name include: * Jean-François Carenco (born 1952), French politician * Jean-François Champollion (1790–1832), French Egyptologist * Jean-François Clervoy (born 1958) ...

the

Treaty of The Hague (1795) The Treaty of The Hague (also known as the Hedges Treaty) was signed on May 16, 1795, between representatives of the French First Republic and the Batavian Republic. Based on the terms of the treaty, the Batavian Republic ceded to France the terri ...

, signed May 16. On 27 January 1796 he was elected to the First

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

and served on the Foreign Relations Committee. On 18 June he was sent to Paris to represent the

Batavian Republic The Batavian Republic (; ) was the Succession of states, successor state to the Dutch Republic, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on 19 January 1795 after the Batavian Revolution and ended on 5 June 1806, with the acce ...

in negotiations between Spain and France, resulting in the

Second Treaty of San Ildefonso The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

. In 1797 he was embroiled in a

sex scandal A sex scandal is a public scandal involving allegations or information about possibly immoral sexual activities, often associated with the sexual affairs of film stars, politicians, famous athletes, or others in the public eye. Sex scandals r ...

and, in absence, banned from the country. Lestevenon lost all his functions, sold

Berkenrode Berkenrode, or Berckenroode is a former 'Heerlijkheid' in the Dutch province of North Holland, situated on the southwest side of Haarlem on the leidsevaart, north of Iepenrode and west of Heemstede. The original castle Berkenrode in the center o ...

and settled in France.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lestevenon, Willem Anne 1750 births 1830 deaths Ambassadors to France Dutch art collectors Members of Teylers Tweede Genootschap Members of the First National Assembly of the Batavian Republic Leiden University alumni Members of the Provisional Representatives of the People of Holland