Abraham van Karnebeek

In this Dutch name, the surname is van Karnebeek, not Karnebeek.

His Excellency jhr. Abraham van Karnebeek
Van Karnebeek in 1905
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 1 November 1885 – 21 April 1888
Prime Minister	Jan Heemskerk
Preceded by	Marc Willem du Tour van Bellinchave [nl]
Succeeded by	Cornelis Hartsen [nl]
King's commissioner of Zeeland
In office 1 October 1879 – 16 June 1884
Preceded by	Willem Six [nl]
Succeeded by	Willem Maurits de Brauw [nl]
Member of the House of Representatives
In office 19 June 1894 – 16 September 1914
In office 3 March 1891 – 20 March 1894
Personal details
Born	Abraham Pieter Cornelis van Karnebeek (1836-09-14)14 September 1836 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	9 October 1925(1925-10-09) (aged 89) The Hague, Netherlands
Political party	Conservative liberal
Spouse	Maria Petronella Rochussen ​ ​ (m. 1873)​
Children	5, of which Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek
Relatives	Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt (nephew)
Occupation	Politician

Abraham Pieter Cornelis van Karnebeek (14 September 1836 – 9 October 1925) was a Dutch jurist, diplomat, and conservative liberal politician. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1885 to 1888. In 1909 he was appointed the honorary title Minister of State.

Career

After studying law in Utrecht which he concluded with a dissertation on international law, Van Karnebeek worked as a diplomat in Washington D.C., London, Berlin, and Paris from 1864. Van Karnebeek was a top official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1871 to 1876, after which he was a diplomat again in Stockholm.[1] From 1879 to 1884 he was the King's Commissioner of the province of Zeeland. In the Jan Heemskerk cabinet (1885–1888), he was Minister of Foreign Affairs. From 1891, Van Karnebeek had a seat in the House of Representatives for the Rotterdam district and later for Utrecht. A highlight of his career was the organization (plus vice-chairmanship) of the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899. In 1904 Van Karnebeek became chairman of the Carnegie Foundation and thus prepared the arrival of the Peace Palace. Together with Tobias Asser, he campaigned for the establishment of the Hague Academy of International Law, which was established in 1914. Van Karnebeek would remain chairman of the Carnegie Foundation until 1923.[1]

Activities

Van Karnebeek worked in interesting times. He was in Washington D.C. during the American Civil War. He experienced the Franco-Prussian War, the Paris Commune, and the unification of Germany.[1] He was a top official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs when the Netherlands recalled its ambassador to the Vatican despite fierce protests from Roman Catholics. He was a minister during the First Boer War, in which the Netherlands sided with South Africa. The 41-year colonial Aceh War was fought during his career. He also did considerable work on the Dutch constitutional revision of 1887.

The Van Karnebeekbron (transl. Van Karnebeek source), a monument in The Hague dating from 1915 that commemorates the establishment of the Peace Palace, is named after him.[2]

Personal life

Van Karnebeek was a member of the Van Karnebeek family. He was the son-in-law of Jan Jacob Rochussen, the nephew of Jacob van Zuylen van Nijevelt, and the father of Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek. All three of them, like him, were Ministers of State. In 1873, he married Maria Petronella Rochussen, his niece, with whom he had two sons and three daughters.[2]

References

1. Woltring, J. (1979). "Karnebeek, jhr. Abraham Pieter Cornelis van (1836-1925)". Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (in Dutch). Amsterdam: Resources Huygens ING. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
2. "Jhr.Mr. A.P.C. van Karnebeek". Parlement.com (in Dutch). Retrieved 5 February 2025.

External links

Media related to Abraham van Karnebeek at Wikimedia Commons