Witsen (also spelled Witzen) is a patrician family of Amsterdam. Its most notable member was the politician and scholar Nicolaes Witsen, but many other members of the family also held leading roles in trade and politics from the Dutch Golden Age up until the French occupation of the Netherlands in the late 18th century.
The Witsen family probably originated in Akersloot in Noord-Holland, where Jacob Witsz was a farmer and owned a farmhouse known as ‘de Noord’. [1] A 1774 history of the family states that the family came from Schagerwaard, which had been known as the Witsmeer (literally the Wits lake) before it was reclaimed.[ citation needed ]
Hendrick de Keyser was a Dutch sculptor, merchant in Belgium bluestone, and architect who was instrumental in establishing a late Renaissance form of Mannerism changing into Baroque. Most of his works appeared in Amsterdam, some elsewhere in the Dutch Republic. He was the father of Pieter and Thomas de Keyser and Willem, and the uncle of Huybert de Keyser, who became his apprentices and all involved in building, decoration and architecture.
The Keizersgracht 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 Prinsengracht.
Nicolaes Witsen was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693 he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1689 he was extraordinary-ambassador to the English court and became Fellow of the Royal Society. In his free time, he was cartographer, maritime writer, and an authority on shipbuilding. His books on the subject are important sources on Dutch shipbuilding in the 17th century. Furthermore, he was an expert on Russian affairs. He was the first to describe Siberia, the Far East and Central Asia in his study Noord en Oost Tartarye [North and East Tartary].
Catharina Pietersdr Hooft was a woman of the Dutch Golden Age. She became famous at a very early age, when she was painted by Frans Hals.
Cornelis Pietersz. Hooft was a Dutch statesman and Amsterdam regent during the Golden Age.
Geelvinck was a Dutch surname. The family died out in the early 19th century.
Cornelis Geelvinck was important in the city administration of Amsterdam that arose after stadholder William III came to power in 1672, both as administrator, and as mayor in the years 1673, 1675, 1684, 1688 and 1689.
Lieve Geelvinck was the son of Joan Geelvinck and grandson of Cornelis Geelvinck and, following them into the vroedschap, he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company and member of the Council of State. He became mayor of Amsterdam for the first time in 1720. Through political marriage alliances, the Geelvinck family had already played an important role the council of Amsterdam for years on end, but in the first half of the 18th century all but one or two of the city's mayors were related to each other.
Johan de Graeff, also Jan de Graeff - patrician of Amsterdam, Free Lord of Zuid-Polsbroek - was a member of the De Graeff - family from the Dutch Golden Age. His political Position was that of the Dutch States Party.
Gerrit de Graeff, vrijheer van Zuid-Polsbroek, Purmerland and Ilpendam was a member of the influential De Graeff family of Amsterdam. He belonged to the patrician class of the city and held the feudal titles Free Lord of Zuid-Polsbroek as those of Purmerland and Ilpendam.
Volkert Overlander was a Dutch noble, jurist, ship-owner, merchant and an Amsterdam regent from the Dutch Golden Age.
Maria Overlander van Purmerland was a noble from the Dutch Golden Age and Free Lady of Purmerland and Ilpendam. She was married to Frans Banninck Cocq, who was the captain of the 1642 painting The Night Watch by Rembrandt.
Hendrick Sorgh was a broker and art collector in Amsterdam.
Gerrit de Graeff (II) van Zuid-Polsbroek was a Dutch politician at local and national Level during the Patriottentijd and afterwards. He belonged to the patrician class of Amsterdam and held the feudal titles Free Lord of Zuid-Polsbroek as those of Purmerland and Ilpendam.
Gerrit de Graeff (IV), vrijheer van Zuid-Polsbroek, Purmerland and Ilpendam (26 July 1797, Ilpendam – 27 March 1870) was a Dutch patrician.