100 Notable alumni of
Leiden University
Updated:
Leiden University is 91st in the world, 30th in Europe, and 1st in the Netherlands by aggregated alumni prominence. Below is the list of 100 notable alumni from Leiden University sorted by their wiki pages popularity. The directory includes famous graduates and former students along with research and academic staff. 3 individuals affiliated with Leiden University won Nobel Prizes in Physics and Physiology or Medicine.
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René Descartes
- Occupations
- astronomercorrespondentmusic theoristphysicistwriter
- Biography
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René Descartes was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science. Mathematics was paramount to his method of inquiry, and he connected the previously separate fields of geometry and algebra into analytic geometry. Descartes spent much of his working life in the Dutch Republic, initially serving the Dutch States Army, and later becoming a central intellectual of the Dutch Golden Age. Although he served a Protestant state and was later counted as a deist by critics, Descartes was Roman Catholic.
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Rembrandt
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1620-1621 studied arts
- Occupations
- art collectoretcherdraftspersonprintmakerpainter
- Biography
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Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of Western art. It is estimated Rembrandt produced a total of about three hundred paintings, three hundred etchings, and two thousand drawings.
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William III of England
- Occupations
- monarchpolitician
- Biography
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William III, also known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from 1672, and King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1689 until his death in 1702. He ruled Great Britain and Ireland with his wife, Queen Mary II, and their joint reign is known as that of William and Mary.
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Benedictus de Spinoza
- Occupations
- philosophergrammarianpolitical scientistBible translatorgrinder of lenses
- Biography
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Baruch Spinoza (24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza significantly influenced modern biblical criticism, 17th-century rationalism, and Dutch intellectual culture, establishing himself as one of the most important and radical philosophers of the early modern period. Influenced by Stoicism, Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes, Ibn Tufayl, and heterodox Christians, Spinoza was a leading philosopher of the Dutch Golden Age.
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John Quincy Adams
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomatlawyerwriterstatesperson
- Biography
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John Quincy Adams was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diplomatic and political career, Adams served as an ambassador and also as a member of the United States Congress representing Massachusetts in both chambers. He was the eldest son of John Adams, who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801, and First Lady Abigail Adams. Initially a Federalist like his father, he won election to the presidency as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and later, in the mid-1830s, became affiliated with the Whig Party.
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William Alexander of the Netherlands
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1987-1993 graduated with Master of Arts in history
- Occupations
- aircraft pilotmonarcharistocratjudge
- Biography
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Willem-Alexander is King of the Netherlands, reigning since 30 April 2013.
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Beatrix of the Netherlands
- Occupations
- monarcharistocrat
- Biography
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Beatrix is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013.
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Mark Rutte
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1984-1992 studied study of history
- Occupations
- politicianhistorianteacher
- Biography
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Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who serves as the 14th secretary general of NATO since October 2024. He previously served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024 and leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 2006 to 2023. Serving a total of almost 14 years, Rutte is the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.
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Enrico Fermi
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1923-1924
- Occupations
- inventoruniversity teacherphysicisttheoretical physicistnuclear physicist
- Biography
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Enrico Fermi was an Italian and naturalized American physicist, renowned for being the creator of the world's first artificial nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, and a member of the Manhattan Project. He has been called the "architect of the nuclear age" and the "architect of the atomic bomb". He was one of very few physicists to excel in both theoretical physics and experimental physics. Fermi was awarded the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity by neutron bombardment and for the discovery of transuranium elements. With his colleagues, Fermi filed several patents related to the use of nuclear power, all of which were taken over by the US government. He made significant contributions to the development of statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and nuclear and particle physics.
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Paul Verhoeven
- Occupations
- television directorfilm directorscreenwriter
- Biography
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Paul Verhoeven is a Dutch film director. His films are known for their graphic violence and sexual content, combined with social satire. After receiving attention for the TV series Floris in his native Netherlands, Verhoeven's breakthrough film was the romantic drama Turkish Delight (1973), starring frequent collaborator Rutger Hauer. Verhoeven later directed successful Dutch films including the period drama Keetje Tippel (1975), the war film Soldier of Orange (1977), the teen drama Spetters (1980) and the psychological thriller The Fourth Man (1983).
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Juliana of the Netherlands
- Occupations
- monarch
- Biography
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Juliana was Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in 1980.
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Armin van Buuren
- Occupations
- club DJrecord producerradio personalitylawyercomposer
- Biography
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Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren OON is a Dutch DJ and record producer. Since 2001, he has hosted A State of Trance (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40 million listeners in 84 countries on over 100 FM radio stations. According to the website DJs and Festivals, "the radio show propelled him to stardom and helped cultivate an interest in trance music around the world".
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistscreenwriterwriteractivist
- Biography
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Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somalian-born Dutch-American writer, activist, conservative thinker and former politician. She is a critic of Islam and advocate for the rights and self-determination of Muslim women, opposing forced marriage, honour killing, child marriage, and female genital mutilation. At the age of five, following local traditions in Somalia, Ali underwent female genital mutilation organized by her grandmother. Her father Hirsi Ali Magan—a scholar, intellectual, and a devout Muslim—was against the procedure but could not stop it from happening because he was imprisoned by the Communist government of Somalia at the time. Her family moved across various countries in Africa and the Middle East, and at 23, she received political asylum in the Netherlands, gaining Dutch citizenship five years later. In her early 30s, Hirsi Ali renounced the Islamic faith of her childhood, began identifying as an atheist, and became involved in Dutch centre-right politics, joining the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). In 2022 she announced that she had become a Christian.
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Christiaan Huygens
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1645-1647
- Occupations
- astronomermusicologistentomologistmusic theoristphysicist
- Biography
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Christiaan Huygens, Lord of Zeelhem, FRS was a Dutch mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor who is regarded as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. In physics, Huygens made seminal contributions to optics and mechanics, while as an astronomer he studied the rings of Saturn and discovered its largest moon, Titan. As an engineer and inventor, he improved the design of telescopes and invented the pendulum clock, the most accurate timekeeper for almost 300 years. A talented mathematician and physicist, his works contain the first idealization of a physical problem by a set of mathematical parameters, and the first mathematical and mechanistic explanation of an unobservable physical phenomenon.
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Johan de Witt
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1641-1645 studied law
- Occupations
- politicianmathematicianwriterlawyer
- Biography
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Johan de Witt was a Dutch statesman who was a major political figure during the First Stadtholderless Period, when flourishing global trade in a period of rapid European colonial expansion made the Dutch a leading trading and seafaring power in Europe, commonly referred to as the Dutch Golden Age. De Witt was elected Grand Pensionary of Holland, and together with his uncle Cornelis de Graeff, he controlled the Dutch political system from around 1650 until the Rampjaar (Disaster Year) of 1672. This progressive cooperation between the two statesmen, and the consequent support of Amsterdam under the rule of De Graeff, was an important political axis that organized the political system within the republic.
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Thierry Baudet
- Occupations
- writerpolitician
- Biography
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Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet is a Dutch politician, author, and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD), for which he has been a member of the House of Representatives since 2017, with the exception of his paternity leave. He serves as the party's parliamentary leader. A controversial politician due to his political views, as well as his use of personal attacks against his opponents, he was physically assaulted twice while campaigning in 2023.
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Hugo Grotius
- Occupations
- politicianwriterplaywrightinternational law scholarjurist
- Biography
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Hugo Grotius, also known as Hugo de Groot ( Dutch: [ˈɦyɣoː də ˈɣroːt]) or Huig de Groot ( Dutch: [ˈɦœyɣ də ˈɣroːt]), was a Dutch humanist, diplomat, lawyer, theologian, jurist, statesman, poet and playwright. A teenage prodigy, he was born in Delft and studied at Leiden University. He was imprisoned in Loevestein Castle for his involvement in the controversies over religious policy of the Dutch Republic, but escaped hidden in a chest of books that was regularly brought to him and was transported to Gorinchem. Grotius wrote most of his major works in exile in France.
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Edsger W. Dijkstra
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1948-1956 studied physics and mathematics
- Occupations
- programmerinformation scientistphysicistuniversity teachermathematician
- Biography
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Edsger Wybe Dijkstra was a Dutch computer scientist, programmer, software engineer, mathematician, and science essayist.
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Hendrik Lorentz
- Occupations
- botanistcuratortheoretical physicistphysicistprofessor
- Biography
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Hendrik Antoon Lorentz was a Dutch theoretical physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for his theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He derived the Lorentz transformation of the special theory of relativity, as well as the Lorentz force, which describes the combined electric and magnetic forces acting on a charged particle in an electromagnetic field. Lorentz was also responsible for the Lorentz oscillator model, a classical model used to describe the anomalous dispersion observed in dielectric materials when the driving frequency of the electric field was near the resonant frequency of the material, resulting in abnormal refractive indices.
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Hamengkubuwono IX
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, often abbreviated as HB IX, was an Indonesian politician and Javanese royal who was the second vice president of Indonesia, the ninth sultan of Yogyakarta, and the first governor of the Special Region of Yogyakarta. Hamengkubuwono IX was also the chairman of the first National Scout Movement Quarter and was known as the Father of the Indonesian Scouts.
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Maurice of Nassau
- Occupations
- military commanderpoliticianart collectormilitary officer
- Biography
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Maurice of Orange was stadtholder of all the provinces of the Dutch Republic except for Friesland from 1585 at the earliest until his death on 23 April 1625. Before he became Prince of Orange upon the death of his eldest half-brother Philip William on 20 February 1618, he was known as Maurice of Nassau.
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Henry Fielding
- Occupations
- magistratepoet lawyerjustice of the peacenovelistwriter
- Biography
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Henry Fielding was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling was a seminal work in the genre. Along with Samuel Richardson, Fielding is seen as the founder of the traditional English novel. He also played an important role in the history of law enforcement in the United Kingdom, using his authority as a magistrate to found the Bow Street Runners, London's first professional police force.
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Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied law
- Occupations
- aristocratconsultantlawyer
- Biography
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Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands is the third and youngest son of the former Dutch queen, Beatrix, and her husband, Claus von Amsberg, and is the younger brother of the reigning Dutch king, Willem-Alexander. He is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently fourth in the line of succession to the Dutch throne behind his nieces.
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Eva Jinek
- Occupations
- presenterjournalisttelevision presenterradio personalitynews presenter
- Biography
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Eva Jinek is a Dutch-American journalist and television presenter.
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Princess Margriet of the Netherlands
- Occupations
- aristocrat
- Biography
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Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is the third daughter of Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard. As an aunt of the reigning monarch, King Willem-Alexander, she is a member of the Dutch Royal House and currently eighth and last in the line of succession to the throne.
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Wopke Hoekstra
- Occupations
- politiciancolumnistlawyer
- Biography
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Wopke Bastiaan Hoekstra is a Dutch politician of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) who serves as European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth in the second von der Leyen commission.
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Stefanie Joosten
- Occupations
- modelfilm actortelevision actor
- Biography
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Stefanie Joosten is a Dutch model, singer, and actress. She first gained widespread public attention when Japanese developer Konami revealed she would be providing the motion capture, voice, and likeness for the character Quiet in the 2015 video game Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
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Johan Huizinga
- Occupations
- art historiananthropologistphilosopherlinguistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Johan Huizinga was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.
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Willem Einthoven
- Occupations
- university teacherphysicianinventorphysiologist
- Biography
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Willem Einthoven was a Dutch medical doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) in 1895 and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 for it ("for the discovery of the mechanism of the electrocardiogram").
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James Hutton
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1747-1749 studied medicine
- Occupations
- physicianindustrialistmeteorologistgeologistfarmer
- Biography
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James Hutton FRSE was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology," he played a key role in establishing geology as a modern science.
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Rutger Bregman
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 2006-2007
- Occupations
- writerhistorianjournalistthinker
- Biography
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Rutger Christiaan Bregman is a Dutch popular historian and author. He has published four books on history, philosophy, and economics, including Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal World, which has been translated into thirty-two languages. His work has been featured in The Washington Post, The Guardian and the BBC. He has been described by The Guardian as the "Dutch wunderkind of new ideas" and by TED Talks as "one of Europe's most prominent young thinkers". His TED Talk, "Poverty Isn't a Lack of Character; It's a Lack of Cash", was chosen by TED curator Chris Anderson as one of the top ten of 2017.
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Charles Adams
- Occupations
- lawyer
- Biography
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Charles Adams was the second son of the second United States president, John Adams, and his wife, Abigail Adams (née Smith). He was also the younger brother of the sixth president, John Quincy Adams.
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Achmad Soebardjo
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Achmad Soebardjo Djojoadisoerjo was a diplomat, an Indonesian national hero, and the first foreign minister of Indonesia.
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Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff
- Occupations
- stereochemistchemistphysicistprofessoruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff Jr. was a Dutch physical chemist. A highly influential theoretical chemist of his time, van 't Hoff was the first winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. His pioneering work helped found the modern theory of chemical affinity, chemical equilibrium, chemical kinetics, and chemical thermodynamics. In his 1874 pamphlet, Van 't Hoff formulated the theory of the tetrahedral carbon atom and laid the foundations of stereochemistry. In 1875, he predicted the correct structures of allenes and cumulenes as well as their axial chirality. He is also widely considered one of the founders of physical chemistry as the discipline is known today.
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Baron d'Holbach
- Occupations
- translatorphilosopherwriterchemistencyclopédistes
- Biography
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Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach, known as d'Holbach, was a Franco-German philosopher, encyclopedist and writer, who was a prominent figure in the French Enlightenment. He was born Paul Heinrich Dietrich in Edesheim, near Landau in the Rhenish Palatinate, but lived and worked mainly in Paris, where he kept a salon. He helped in the dissemination of "Protestant and especially German thought", particularly in the field of the sciences, but was best known for his atheism, and for his voluminous writings against religion, the most famous of them being The System of Nature (1770) and The Universal Morality (1776).
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Johannes Diderik van der Waals
- Occupations
- physicistchemisttheoretical physicistprofessoruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Johannes Diderik van der Waals was a Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist famous for his pioneering work on the equation of state for gases and liquids. Van der Waals started his career as a schoolteacher. He became the first physics professor of the University of Amsterdam when in 1877 the old Athenaeum was upgraded to Municipal University. Van der Waals won the 1910 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the equation of state for gases and liquids.
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Niko Tinbergen
- Occupations
- photographerzoologistbiologistuniversity teacherethologist
- Biography
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Nikolaas "Niko" Tinbergen FRS was a Dutch biologist and ornithologist who shared the 1973 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Karl von Frisch and Konrad Lorenz for their discoveries concerning the organization and elicitation of individual and social behavior patterns in animals. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern ethology, the study of animal behavior.
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John Wilkes
- Occupations
- bretteurjournalistpolitician
- Biography
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John Wilkes FRS was an English radical journalist and politician, as well as a magistrate, essayist and soldier. He was first elected a Member of Parliament in 1757. In the Middlesex election dispute, he fought for the right of his voters – rather than the House of Commons – to determine their representatives. In 1768, angry protests of his supporters were suppressed in the Massacre of St George's Fields. In 1771, he was instrumental in obliging the government to concede the right of printers to publish verbatim accounts of parliamentary debates. In 1776, he introduced the first bill for parliamentary reform in the British Parliament.
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Jan Ingenhousz
- Occupations
- physiologistphysicistphysicianchemistbotanist
- Biography
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Jan Ingenhousz FRS was a Dutch-British physiologist, biologist and chemist.
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Johannes Hevelius
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1630-1632 studied law
- Occupations
- astronomerbrewercartographerentrepreneur
- Biography
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Johannes Hevelius was a councillor and mayor of Danzig (Gdańsk), in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. As an astronomer, he gained a reputation as "the founder of lunar topography", and described ten new constellations, seven of which are still used by astronomers.
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Victoria Koblenko
- Occupations
- writertelevision presenterfilm actorcolumnistpresenter
- Biography
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Victoria Koblenko is a Dutch actress, presenter and columnist of Ukrainian descent.
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Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
- Occupations
- inventorscientistuniversity teacherphysicistprofessor
- Biography
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Heike Kamerlingh Onnes was a Dutch physicist. After studying in Groningen and Heidelberg, he became professor of experimental physics at the University of Leiden where he taught from 1882 to 1923. In 1904, he established a cryogenics laboratory where he exploited the Hampson–Linde cycle to investigate how materials behave when cooled to nearly absolute zero. In 1908, he became the first to liquefy helium, cooling it to near 1.5 Kelvin, at the time the coldest temperature achieved on earth. For this research, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913. Using liquid helium to investigate the electrical conductivity of solid mercury, he found in 1911 that at 4.2 K its electrical resistance vanishes, thus discovering superconductivity.
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Thomas Browne
- Occupations
- philosopherphysicianwriterphysician writer
- Biography
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Sir Thomas Browne was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. His writings display a deep curiosity towards the natural world, influenced by the Scientific Revolution of Baconian enquiry and are permeated by references to Classical and Biblical sources as well as the idiosyncrasies of his own personality. Although often described as suffused with melancholia, Browne's writings are also characterised by wit and subtle humour, while his literary style is varied, according to genre, resulting in a rich, unique prose which ranges from rough notebook observations to polished Baroque eloquence.
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Hugo de Vries
- Occupations
- professorbotanistuniversity teacherbiologistgeneticist
- Biography
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Hugo Marie de Vries was a Dutch botanist and one of the first geneticists. He is known chiefly for suggesting the concept of genes, rediscovering the laws of heredity in the 1890s while apparently unaware of Gregor Mendel's work, for introducing the term "mutation", and for developing a mutation theory of evolution.
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Jacobus Arminius
- Occupations
- professoruniversity teachertheologian
- Biography
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Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch Reformed minister and theologian during the Protestant Reformation period whose views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement. He served from 1603 as professor in theology at the University of Leiden and wrote many books and treatises on theology.
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Ronald Plasterk
- Occupations
- microbiologistuniversity teachercolumnistpoliticiangeneticist
- Biography
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Ronald Hans Anton Plasterk is a Dutch retired politician of the Labour Party (PvdA). He has a PhD degree in biology, specialising in molecular genetics. He is founder and CEO of Frame Cancer Therapeutics. He was appointed professor at the University of Amsterdam in September 2018.
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Abraham Kuyper
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1855-1862 graduated with Doctor
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistjuristChristian ministeruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Abraham Kuyper was the Prime Minister of the Netherlands between 1901 and 1905, an influential neo-Calvinist pastor and a journalist. He established the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands, which upon its foundation became the second largest Reformed denomination in the country behind the state-supported Dutch Reformed Church.
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Christiaan Snouck
- Occupations
- photographerexplorerscientistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje was a Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages and advisor on native affairs to the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies.
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Alexander Pechtold
- Occupations
- politicianart historianart collector
- Biography
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Alexander Pechtold is a retired Dutch politician and art historian. He is a member of Democrats 66.
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John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
- Occupations
- politicianbotanistart collector
- Biography
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John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under King George III. He became the first Tory to hold the position and was arguably the last important royal favourite in British politics. He was the first prime minister from Scotland following the Acts of Union in 1707. He was also elected as the first president of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland when it was founded in 1780.
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Angelus Silesius
- Occupations
- poettheologianpresbyterphysician writerwriter
- Biography
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Angelus Silesius, OFM, born Johann Scheffler, was a German Catholic priest, physician, mystic and religious poet. Born and raised a Lutheran, he began to read the works of medieval mystics while studying in the Netherlands and became acquainted with the works of the German mystic Jacob Böhme through Böhme's friend Abraham von Franckenberg. Silesius's display of his mystic beliefs caused tension with Lutheran authorities and led to his eventual conversion to Catholicism in 1653, wherein he adopted the name Angelus (Latin for "angel" or "heavenly messenger") and the epithet Silesius ("Silesian"). He entered the Franciscans and was ordained a priest in 1661. Ten years later, in 1671, he retired to a Jesuit house where he remained for the rest of his life.
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Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherlawyerdiplomatjurist
- Biography
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Jakob Gijsbert "Jaap" de Hoop Scheffer is a Dutch retired politician, jurist and diplomat who served as the eleventh Secretary General of NATO from January 2004 to August 2009. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), which he led from March 1997 to October 2001, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from July 2002 until December 2003 under Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende.
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Meinoud Rost van Tonningen
- Occupations
- bankerpoliticiandiplomatjournalistcompiler
- Biography
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Meinoud Marinus Rost van Tonningen was a Dutch politician of the National Socialist Movement (NSB). During the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II, he collaborated extensively with the German occupation forces. He was the husband of Florentine Rost van Tonningen.
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Sutan Sjahrir
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Sutan Sjahrir was an Indonesian politician and revolutionary independence leader who served as the first Prime Minister of Indonesia from 1945 until 1947. Previously, he was a key Indonesian nationalist organizer in the 1930s and 1940s. Unlike some of his colleagues, he did not support the Japanese during the Japanese occupation and fought in the resistance against them. He was considered to be an idealist and an intellectual.
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Bernard Mandeville
- Occupations
- philosopherphysicianwritereconomist
- Biography
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Bernard Mandeville, or Bernard de Mandeville, was an Anglo-Dutch philosopher, political economist, satirist, writer and physician. Born in Rotterdam, he lived most of his life in England and used English for most of his published works. He became famous for The Fable of the Bees.
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Gerard Kuiper
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1924-1927 graduated with Bachelor of Science in astronomy
- 1927-1933 graduated with Doctor of Philosophy in astronomy
- Occupations
- university teacherplanetary scientistastronomercartographer
- Biography
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Gerard Peter Kuiper was a Dutch-American astronomer, planetary scientist, selenographer, author and professor. The Kuiper belt is named after him.
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Soepomo
- Occupations
- diplomat
- Biography
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Soepomo was an Indonesian politician and lawyer who served as the country's first Minister of Justice from August until November 1945 and again from December 1949 until 6 September 1950. Known as the father of Indonesia's constitution, he was posthumously declared an Indonesian National Hero by President Sukarno in 1965.
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Frits Bolkestein
- Occupations
- politicianwriterplaywrightautobiographerhistorian
- Biography
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Frederik "Frits" Bolkestein is a Dutch retired politician and energy executive who served as Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) from 1990 to 1998 and European Commissioner for Internal Market from 1999 until 2004 under Romano Prodi.
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Andreas Gryphius
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1638-1644
- Occupations
- writerplaywrightpoetpoet lawyer
- Biography
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Andreas Gryphius was a German poet and playwright. With his eloquent sonnets, which contains "The Suffering, Frailty of Life and the World", he is considered one of the most important Baroque poets of the Germanosphere. He was one of the first improvers of the German language and German poetry.
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Jan Tinbergen
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1921-1926
- Occupations
- professoruniversity teachereconomist
- Biography
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Jan Tinbergen was a Dutch economist who was awarded the first Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1969, which he shared with Ragnar Frisch for having developed and applied dynamic models for the analysis of economic processes. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential economists of the 20th century and one of the founding fathers of econometrics.
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Job Cohen
- Occupations
- politicianuniversity teacherjurist
- Biography
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Marius Job Cohen is a retired Dutch politician and jurist who served as Mayor of Amsterdam from 2001 to 2010 and Leader of the Labour Party (PvdA) from 2010 to 2012.
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Prince Alexander, Prince of Orange
- Occupations
- art collectordignitary
- Biography
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Alexander, Prince of Orange, was heir apparent to his father King William III of the Netherlands from 11 June 1879 until his death.
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Peter Simon Pallas
- Occupations
- geographerphysicianbotanistexplorerzoologist
- Biography
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Peter Simon Pallas FRS FRSE was a Prussian zoologist, botanist, ethnographer, explorer, geographer, geologist, natural historian, and taxonomist. He studied natural sciences at various universities in early modern Germany and worked primarily in the Russian Empire between 1767 and 1810.
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Johan Rudolph Thorbecke
- Occupations
- professoruniversity teacherpoliticianhistorianjurist
- Biography
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Johan Rudolph Thorbecke was a Dutch liberal statesman, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century. Thorbecke is best known for heading the commission that drafted the revision of the Constitution of the Netherlands in 1848, amidst the liberal democratic revolutions of 1848. The new constitution transformed the country from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy, with the States General and the Council of Ministers becoming more powerful than the king. The amended constitution also granted individual rights to residents and citizens of the kingdom. This made the constitution one of the more progressive at the time. Thorbecke is generally considered a founding father of the modern political system of the Netherlands.
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Freek Vonk
- Occupations
- biologisttelevision presenter
- Biography
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Freek Jacobus Vonk is a Dutch biologist who specializes in herpetology with a special interest in snake venom. He travels the world in search of the most spectacular and bizarre creatures. He has been bitten by a number of venomous snakes, almost lost his arm due to a Caribbean reef shark bite and has housed several parasites in his own body.
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Edith Schippers
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1985-1991
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Edith Ingeborg Schippers is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businesswoman who served as President of DSM Netherlands between 2019 and 2023.
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Pieter Zeeman
- Occupations
- photographerphysicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Pieter Zeeman was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.
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Erica Terpstra
- Occupations
- television producertelevision presenterpoliticianswimmerjournalist
- Biography
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Erica Georgina Terpstra is a retired Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD).
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Janusz Radziwiłł
- Occupations
- politiciandiplomatmilitary leader
- Biography
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Prince Janusz Radziwiłł, also known as Janusz the Second or Janusz the Younger was a noble and magnate in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Throughout his life he occupied a number of posts in the state administration, including that of Court Chamberlain of Lithuania (from 1633), Field Hetman of Lithuania (from 1646) and Grand Hetman of Lithuania (from 1654). He was also a voivode of Vilna Voivodeship (from 1653), as well as a starost of Samogitia, Kamieniec, Kazimierz and Sejwy. He was a protector of the Protestant religion in Lithuania and sponsor of many Protestant schools and churches.
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Nasr Abu Zayd
- Occupations
- philosopherthinkerarabistwriteruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd was an Egyptian Quranic thinker, author, academic and one of the leading liberal theologians in Islam. He is famous for his project of a humanistic Quranic hermeneutics, which "challenged mainstream views" on the Quran, sparking "controversy and debate." While not denying that the Quran was of divine origin, Zayd argued that it was a "cultural product" that had to be read in the context of the language and culture of seventh century Arabs, and could be interpreted in more than one way. He also criticized the use of religion to exert political power. In 1995 an Egyptian Sharia court declared him an apostate, this led to threats of death and his fleeing Egypt several weeks later. He later quietly returned to Egypt where he died.
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Martinus Wilhelm Beijerinck
- Occupations
- botanistentomologistbiologistprofessoruniversity teacher
- Biography
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Martinus Willem Beijerinck was a Dutch microbiologist and botanist who was one of the founders of virology and environmental microbiology. He is credited with the co-discovery of viruses (1898), which he called "contagium vivum fluidum".
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Pieter van Vollenhoven
- Occupations
- university teacherpianistjurist
- Biography
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Pieter van Vollenhoven Jr. is the husband of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and a member, by marriage, of the Dutch royal house.
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Eva Högl
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Eva Alexandra Ingrid Irmgard Anna Högl is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of Germany since May 2020.
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Robert van Gulik
- Occupations
- translatormusiciannovelistillustratordiplomat
- Biography
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Robert Hans van Gulik was a Dutch orientalist, diplomat, musician (of the guqin), and writer, best known for the Judge Dee historical mysteries, the protagonist of which he borrowed from the 18th-century Chinese detective novel Dee Goong An.
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Willebrord Snellius
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1608
- Occupations
- university teachermathematicianastronomerphysicist
- Biography
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Willebrord Snellius was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, commonly known as Snell. His name is usually associated with the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law.
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Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse
- Occupations
- politicianpatron of the artssovereign
- Biography
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Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse was Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt (as Louis X) and later the first Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine.
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Maarten 't Hart
- Occupations
- ethnologistwriterbiologistliterary critic
- Biography
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Maarten 't Hart is a Dutch writer. Trained as a biologist in zoology and ethology at the Leiden University, he taught that subject before becoming a full-time writer in the 1980s, having made his debut as a novelist in 1971 under the name Martin Hart with Stenen voor een ransuil ("Stones for a Long-Eared Owl").
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Herman Boerhaave
- Occupations
- botanistphilosopherphysicianentomologistanatomist
- Biography
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Herman Boerhaave was a Dutch botanist, chemist, Christian humanist, and physician of European fame. He is regarded as the founder of clinical teaching and of the modern academic hospital and is sometimes referred to as "the father of physiology," along with Venetian physician Santorio Santorio (1561–1636). Boerhaave introduced the quantitative approach into medicine, along with his pupil Albrecht von Haller (1708–1777) and is best known for demonstrating the relation of symptoms to lesions. He was the first to isolate the chemical urea from urine. He was the first physician to put thermometer measurements to clinical practice. His motto was Simplex veri sigillum: 'Simplicity is the sign of the truth'. He is often hailed as the "Dutch Hippocrates".
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Kees van der Staaij
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1986-1991 studied law
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
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Cornelis Gerrit "Kees" van der Staaij is a Dutch politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1998 to 2023 and Leader of the Reformed Political Party (Staatkundig Gereformeerde Partij, SGP) between 2010 and 2023. As a parliamentarian, he focused on matters of judiciary, home affairs, Kingdom relations, foreign policy, the European Union, development aid, the defense, public health, welfare, sports, immigration and political asylum. Van der Staaij had been the longest running member of the House of Representatives from 2017 until 2023.
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Joseph Luns
- Occupations
- diplomatpolitician
- Biography
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Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP), now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), diplomat, and jurist. He served as Secretary General of NATO from 1 October 1971 until 25 June 1984.
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Gert-Jan Segers
- Occupations
- columnistpoliticianwriterjournalist
- Biography
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Gert Jan Maarten "Gert-Jan" Segers is a Dutch politician who was Leader of the Christian Union between 2015 and 2023. He has been a member of the House of Representatives between 2012 and 2023 and was parliamentary leader between 2015 and 2023.
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Marcel van Hattem
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Marcel van Hattem is a Brazilian political scientist, journalist, international relations consultant and politician. He currently serves in Brazil's Chamber of Deputies and is known for his conservative views.
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Herman Tjeenk Willink
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- In 1968 studied Law of the Netherlands
- Occupations
- judgepoliticianlawyer
- Biography
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Herman Diederik Tjeenk Willink is a retired Dutch politician of the Labour Party (PvdA) and jurist. He was granted the honorary title of Minister of State on 21 December 2012.
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Rik van de Westelaken
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- 1989-1991 graduated with bachelor's degree
- Occupations
- presentertelevision presenternews presenter
- Biography
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Rik van de Westelaken is a Dutch television presenter. He is known for presenting television programs which include the NOS Journaal, Peking Express and Wie is de Mol?. Other programs include Rik over de Grens and 5 Golden Rings.
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Christiaan de Wet
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Christiaan Rudolf de Wet was a Boer general, rebel leader and politician.
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Alexander Andries Maramis
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Alexander Andries Maramis, more commonly known simply as A. A. Maramis, was an Indonesian politician and National Hero of Indonesia, who was involved in the struggle for independence. He was a member of the Investigating Committee for Preparatory Work for Independence (BPUPK), the organization which drafted the Constitution of Indonesia. In the early stages of the Indonesian government, following the Proclamation of Independence, he served as both Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs. After the end of the Indonesian National Revolution, he served as the Indonesian ambassador to several nations, including the Philippines, West Germany, and the Soviet Union.
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Ian Buruma
- Occupations
- university teachercolumnistwriterhistorianjournalist
- Biography
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Ian Buruma is a Dutch writer and editor who lives and works in the United States. In 2017, he became editor of The New York Review of Books, but left the position in September 2018.
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Albrecht von Haller
- Occupations
- naturalistentomologistanatomistsurgeonbiologist
- Biography
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Albrecht von Haller was a Swiss anatomist, physiologist, naturalist, encyclopedist, bibliographer and poet. A pupil of Herman Boerhaave and Jacob Winslow, he is sometimes referred to as "the father of modern physiology."
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Nicolaas Bloembergen
- Occupations
- physicistuniversity teachertheoretical physicist
- Biography
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Nicolaas Bloembergen was a Dutch-American physicist and Nobel laureate, recognized for his work in developing driving principles behind nonlinear optics for laser spectroscopy. During his career, he was a professor at Harvard University and later at the University of Arizona and at Leiden University in 1973 (as Lorentz Professor).
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Ali Sastroamidjojo
- Occupations
- politician
- Biography
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Ali Sastroamidjojo was an Indonesian politician and diplomat. He served in various political and diplomatic roles during the presidency of Sukarno, most notably as a cabinet minister, prime minister, chairman of the Indonesian National Party (PNI), and permanent representative to the United Nations. Ali was born in Grabag, Purworejo, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), to an aristocratic family from Magelang and studied at Leiden University. During his studies, he was active in several youth organizations, including the Jong Java and the Perhimpoenan Indonesia associations. He was briefly arrested by the Dutch in 1927 but was released shortly thereafter.
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Hans van Baalen
- Occupations
- politicianjournalistjurist
- Biography
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Johannes Cornelis "Hans" van Baalen was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) who served as a Member of the European Parliament and Leader of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy in the European Parliament from 2009 until 2019. He also was President of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party from 21 November 2015 until his death.
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Sander Dekker
- Occupations
- juristpolitician
- Biography
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Sander Dekker is a Dutch politician who served as Minister for Legal Protection in the Third Rutte cabinet from 2017 to 2022. A member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), he previously served as State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science under the Second Rutte cabinet from 2012 to 2017.
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Paul Cliteur
- Occupations
- philosopherpoliticiancolumnistjuristwriter
- Biography
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Paul Bernard Cliteur is a Dutch professor of jurisprudence at Leiden University, as well as a politician, philosopher, writer, publicist and columnist. He is known for his conservative perspective, his atheism, his republicanism, and his dislike of Islam. He is a member of De Vrije Gedachte. Since 2015, Cliteur has been a member of the Dutch political party Forum voor Democratie, where he is chairman of the advisory board and the party's official think tank. In 2019 he was elected to be parliamentary group leader for Forum voor Democratie in the Dutch Senate.
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David Cohen
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- Studied in 1912
- Occupations
- university teachermathematiciancomputer scientistchairperson
- Biography
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David Cohen was a Dutch classicist and papyrologist and one of the two chairs of the Jewish Council of Amsterdam [nl; de; he] (Joodse Raad, or Judenrat, of Amsterdam) during the occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. He was Professor of Ancient History at the University of Amsterdam and a prominent Zionist leader.
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Jan Andrzej Morsztyn
- Occupations
- writerpoliticianpoet
- Biography
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Jan Andrzej Morsztyn was a Polish poet, member of the landed nobility, and official in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He was starosta of Zawichost, Tymbark and Kowal. He was also pantler of Sandomierz (1647–58), Royal Secretary (from 1656), a secular referendary (1658–68), and Deputy Crown Treasurer from 1668. Apart from his career at the Polish court, Morsztyn is famous as a leading poet of the Polish Baroque and a prominent representative of Marinist style in Polish literature. Over his lifetime he accumulated considerable wealth. In 1683 he was accused of treason and was forced to emigrate to France.
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Maxime Verhagen
- Occupations
- politicianhistoriandiplomat
- Biography
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Maxime Jacques Marcel Verhagen is a retired Dutch politician and historian. A member of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), he served as Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2012 under Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
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Gerard van Swieten
- Enrolled in Leiden University
- In 1725 graduated with Doctor of Medicine in medicine
- Occupations
- anatomistphysician
- Biography
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Gerard van Swieten was a Dutch physician who from 1745 was the personal physician of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and transformed the Austrian health service and medical university education. He was the father of Gottfried van Swieten, patron of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
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Pieter van Musschenbroek
- Occupations
- astronomerphysicianastrologerphysicistuniversity teacher
- Biography
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Pieter van Musschenbroek was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden, where he held positions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and astronomy. He is credited with the invention of the first capacitor in 1746: the Leyden jar. He performed pioneering work on the buckling of compressed struts. Musschenbroek was also one of the first scientists (1729) to provide detailed descriptions of testing machines for tension, compression, and flexure testing. An early example of a problem in dynamic plasticity was described in the 1739 paper (in the form of the penetration of butter by a wooden stick subjected to impact by a wooden sphere).
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Chen Yi-chi
- Occupations
- writerpoliticiantelevision actor
- Biography
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Chen Yi-chi is a Taiwanese politician who was a co-founder and the first chairperson of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party.
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Ronald Venetiaan
- Occupations
- university teacherpoliticianplaywrightpoet
- Biography
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Ronald Runaldo Venetiaan is a former politician who served as the sixth president of Suriname.
