Gerrit Schimmelpenninck

Who was Gerrit Schimmelpenninck?

Gerrit, Count Schimmelpenninck was a Dutch businessman and statesman, whose views ranged from liberal to conservative. He was the son of Grand Pensionary Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.

After other functions, among which chief of the Nederlandsche Handelmaatschappij, he became head of secretary in Saint-Petersburg and later in London.

The primary reason of William II to get him to the Netherlands was to keep Thorbecke out of the Council of Ministers. In March 1848 he became Chairman of the Council of Ministers, holding the ministerial offices of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance. His proposal to design a Constitution following British model, which would imply that the Senate could not be dissolved by the King, was rejected by the other ministers. He tendered his resignation on 14 May 1848.