Godert van der Capellen

Who was Godert van der Capellen?

Godert Alexander Gerard Philip, Baron van der Capellen was a Dutch statesman from Utrecht.

Van der Capellen was the son of a cavalry colonel. He was made Prefect of Friesland in 1808 and soon thereafter Minister of the Interior and a member of the Privy Council. At his advice, King Louis Napoleon abdicated the throne in 1810 in favor of his son, Louis II. Van der Capellen did not serve Napoleon I. Wilhelm I, King of the Netherlands, appointed him Colonial Minister and sent him as Secretary of United Kingdom of the Netherlands to Brussels. In 1815, van de Capellen was made the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies, where he had to deal with both a native rebellion and a money shortage. In fact, during his tenure in Java, his power was largely ceremonial as his adjunct, Cornelis Theodorus Elout, had much of the actual power. He was ordered back in 1825 and named President of the Board of Trustees of the University of Utrecht in 1828. In 1838, he attended the coronation of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in London as the Dutch envoy. Van de Capellen then served as the Lord Chamberlain of King William II. He died in April 1848 in De Bilt.