Daniël George van Beuningen

Who was Daniël George van Beuningen?

Daniël George van Beuningen was a Dutch businessman and icon for the city of Rotterdam.

Born in Utrecht Van Beuningen had a typical character referring to people from Rotterdam. He was a hard working man in the port of the city, which was the largest port in the world in those days. He was a well known celebrity not only in the city itself, but all over the country and in many other countries as well.

His father was co-founder of the Steenkolen Handels Vereniging, which became big during the World War I supplying both the English and German armies with coal. Van Beuningen led a large amount of companies in the port of Rotterdam and after the war he owned most of these companies and he became also active in the society. In 1937 he was one of the co-financial partners of the newly built Stadion Feijenoord, buying the ground where the stadium was built and was one of the founders for the Harbour Hospital in the city. During the World War II in 1941 he resigned. In 1954, several months before his death in Arlesheim, Switzerland the Van Beuningen family was forced to withdraw completely out of the SHV Holdings as there was no replaceable family member to become director.