Gerrit Paape
Encyclopedia
Gerrit Paape Delft was a Dutch plateelschilder (painter of earthenware and stoneware), poet, journalist, novelist, judge, columnist and (at the end of his career) ministerial civil servant.
circle of poets, amateur artists and notables. In 1781, he got a job as a clerk at the Kamer van Charitate (“Chamber of Charity”), the local institution of poor relief. Gradually Paape became a person of authority in Delft, whose opinions were heeded. In 1782, he became one of the Patriots
.
In 1785, he became a journalist of the local paper the Hollandsche Historische Courant, since 1775 in the hands of Wybo Fijnje
. The paper was regarded as one of the most radical in the country. Fijnje frequently had to defend his articles,, especially those written by his friend and co-editor. Paape wrote pamphlets and poems and became a theoretician of the Patriots and a historian of the local societies. On 21 August 1787 a revolution took place in the vroedschap
(the local government) in Delft, and various regents
were deposed. In his account, Gerrit Paape laid emphasis on the opposition being shamed and silenced by the order and peace which characterised these developments.
At the end of September 1787 Paape fled to Amsterdam and two weeks later, wearing a wig and hat, via Antwerp and Brussels, ended up at Dunkirk. On 3 April 1789 he and Wybo Fynje were exiled for life from the four regions (Holland, Zeeland, Friesland and Utrecht) for lèse majesté
. Herman Willem Daendels
appointed Paape his secretary in Saint-Omer
, and under the French general Pichegru
, both men arrived at 's-Hertogenbosch on 21 September 1794 . The siege of the city was to last three weeks. Daendels' plans to take matters in his own hands in the Bommelerwaard
were at his instigation reported by Paape in a newspaper article, which, however, upset the French.
and the Hague, he was offered an honourable post in Leeuwarden in September 1796. There he was appointed to the Council of Justice, but without any legal qualifications. Paape resumed his journalistic work, usually under a pseudonym, with the radical Friesche Courant, with a view to acquainting the citizens with the ideas of the revolution. The anti-French revolt of Kollum caused great strain in Friesland, so that Daendels was called in to help. Paape, an anti-Orangist to the very core, squandered his position as an independent by running ahead of judicial procedures and verdicts. Paape was expelled and in May 1797 he left for the Hague, totally disenchanted with the Batavian revolution
.
Paape then wrote Vrolijke Caracterschetsen (“Cheerful Profiles”) en "De Knorrepot en de Menschenvriend" (“The Growser and the Humanitarian”), a sharp and brilliant portrait of his former colleague-judge in Leeuwarden, the radical Abraham Staal
, who, it is assumed, may have played a prominent part as early as 1787. In 1798, he was appointed a civil servant in the ministry of National Education. At the time of the Coup he renewed his contacts with Pieter Vreede
. In his last years Paape was plagued by illnesses that consigned him to his bed. He died of edema
at the Hague at the age of 51.
". In 's-Hertogenbosch, Paape produced the periodical De keezensociëteit (“The Patriot Society”). Like Voltaire
, he wrote a satirical novel, Het leven en sterven van een hedendaagsch Aristocraat ("The Life and Death of a Present-day Aristocrat"), in which he very cynically describes how the old nobility ostensibly embrace the revolution, but only to save their own skin and in the end, even without titles and heraldic shields, become even more impudent and power-hungry than before. Beside literary works, he wrote on the exercitiegenootschap
pen (military societies), bee keeping and plateelschilders (pottery painters). On the first page of his last book, De onverbloemde geschiedenis ("The Plain History") Paape states that he is not sure whether the Patriot movement should make him laugh or cry.
Life
Gerrit Paape was born to a poor couple with many children. Because he wanted to draw well, his father had him placed in a local earthenware factory in 1765, where he learned the trade of the plateelschilder. In 1779, he was dismissed. He had in the meantime joined a DelftDelft
Delft is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland , the Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam and The Hague....
circle of poets, amateur artists and notables. In 1781, he got a job as a clerk at the Kamer van Charitate (“Chamber of Charity”), the local institution of poor relief. Gradually Paape became a person of authority in Delft, whose opinions were heeded. In 1782, he became one of the Patriots
Patriots (faction)
The Patriots were a political faction in the Dutch Republic in the second half of the 18th century. They were led by Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, gaining power from November 1782....
.
In 1785, he became a journalist of the local paper the Hollandsche Historische Courant, since 1775 in the hands of Wybo Fijnje
Wybo Fijnje
Wybo Fijnje was a Dutch Mennonite minister, publisher in Delft, Patriot, exile, coup perpetrator, politician and - during the French era - manager of the state newspaper.-Early life:...
. The paper was regarded as one of the most radical in the country. Fijnje frequently had to defend his articles,, especially those written by his friend and co-editor. Paape wrote pamphlets and poems and became a theoretician of the Patriots and a historian of the local societies. On 21 August 1787 a revolution took place in the vroedschap
Vroedschap
The vroedschap was the name for the city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a vroedman, literally a "wise man"...
(the local government) in Delft, and various regents
Regenten
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the regenten were the rulers of the Dutch Republic, the leaders of the Dutch cities or the heads of organisations . Though not formally a hereditary "class", they were de facto "patricians", comparable to that ancient Roman class...
were deposed. In his account, Gerrit Paape laid emphasis on the opposition being shamed and silenced by the order and peace which characterised these developments.
At the end of September 1787 Paape fled to Amsterdam and two weeks later, wearing a wig and hat, via Antwerp and Brussels, ended up at Dunkirk. On 3 April 1789 he and Wybo Fynje were exiled for life from the four regions (Holland, Zeeland, Friesland and Utrecht) for lèse majesté
Lèse majesté
Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...
. Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels
Herman Willem Daendels was a Dutch politician who served as the 36th Governor General of the Dutch East Indies between 1808 and 1811....
appointed Paape his secretary in Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer
Saint-Omer , a commune and sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department west-northwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomar, who brought Christianity to the area....
, and under the French general Pichegru
Charles Pichegru
Jean-Charles Pichegru was a French general and political figure of the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars.-Early life and career:...
, both men arrived at 's-Hertogenbosch on 21 September 1794 . The siege of the city was to last three weeks. Daendels' plans to take matters in his own hands in the Bommelerwaard
Bommelerwaard
Bommelerwaard is a district in Gelderland, Netherlands.The Bommelerwaard is situated among three rivers: the Maas in the south, the Waal in the north and the Afgedamde Maas in the west. It is formed by the area of two municipalities: Zaltbommel and Maasdriel....
were at his instigation reported by Paape in a newspaper article, which, however, upset the French.
After the revolution
After jobs in Delft, DordrechtDordrecht
Dordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...
and the Hague, he was offered an honourable post in Leeuwarden in September 1796. There he was appointed to the Council of Justice, but without any legal qualifications. Paape resumed his journalistic work, usually under a pseudonym, with the radical Friesche Courant, with a view to acquainting the citizens with the ideas of the revolution. The anti-French revolt of Kollum caused great strain in Friesland, so that Daendels was called in to help. Paape, an anti-Orangist to the very core, squandered his position as an independent by running ahead of judicial procedures and verdicts. Paape was expelled and in May 1797 he left for the Hague, totally disenchanted with the Batavian revolution
Batavian Republic
The Batavian Republic was the successor of the Republic of the United Netherlands. It was proclaimed on January 19, 1795, and ended on June 5, 1806, with the accession of Louis Bonaparte to the throne of the Kingdom of Holland....
.
Paape then wrote Vrolijke Caracterschetsen (“Cheerful Profiles”) en "De Knorrepot en de Menschenvriend" (“The Growser and the Humanitarian”), a sharp and brilliant portrait of his former colleague-judge in Leeuwarden, the radical Abraham Staal
Abraham Staal
Abraham Jacobsz Staal was a Dutch Mennonite teacher at Goes , Bolsward and Leeuwarden who combined sermons with revolution. He became known in the wider world as "arendsneus"...
, who, it is assumed, may have played a prominent part as early as 1787. In 1798, he was appointed a civil servant in the ministry of National Education. At the time of the Coup he renewed his contacts with Pieter Vreede
Pieter Vreede
Pieter Vreede , was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic in the 18th century. Vreede was born in Leiden and died in Heusden. He was a prominent critic of stadholderian misrule and of the urban patriciate....
. In his last years Paape was plagued by illnesses that consigned him to his bed. He died of edema
Edema
Edema or oedema ; both words from the Greek , oídēma "swelling"), formerly known as dropsy or hydropsy, is an abnormal accumulation of fluid beneath the skin or in one or more cavities of the body that produces swelling...
at the Hague at the age of 51.
Works
Paape wrote numerous books and plays, mostly romanticised accounts of an exile's life in the southern Netherlands and France, based on real events and facts. Gerrit Paape edited Reize door de Oostenrijkse Nederlanden ("A Journey through the Austrian [i.e. Southern] Netherlands"). The exiles in the castle of Watten (in French Flanders) also figure in his novel De gelukkige emigranten ("The Happy Emigrés"). Paape kept himself occupied by translating the "Explanation of the Rights of ManRights of Man
Rights of Man , a book by Thomas Paine, posits that popular political revolution is permissible when a government does not safeguard its people, their natural rights, and their national interests. Using these points as a base it defends the French Revolution against Edmund Burke's attack in...
". In 's-Hertogenbosch, Paape produced the periodical De keezensociëteit (“The Patriot Society”). Like Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, he wrote a satirical novel, Het leven en sterven van een hedendaagsch Aristocraat ("The Life and Death of a Present-day Aristocrat"), in which he very cynically describes how the old nobility ostensibly embrace the revolution, but only to save their own skin and in the end, even without titles and heraldic shields, become even more impudent and power-hungry than before. Beside literary works, he wrote on the exercitiegenootschap
Exercitiegenootschap
An exercitiegenootschap or militia was a military organisation in the 18th century Netherlands, in the form of an armed private organization with a democratically chosen administration, aiming to train the citizens and the lower bourgeoisie in use of muskets...
pen (military societies), bee keeping and plateelschilders (pottery painters). On the first page of his last book, De onverbloemde geschiedenis ("The Plain History") Paape states that he is not sure whether the Patriot movement should make him laugh or cry.
External links
Literature
- This article is based entirely or partially on its equivalent on Dutch Wikipedia.
- Altena, P. & M. Oostindie (ed.). Gerrit Paape, De Bataafsche Republiek. Nijmegen. 1998.
- Fijnje-Luzac, E. Mijn beslommerde Boedel. Brieven in ballingschap 1787–1788.
- Kuiper, J. (2002) Een revolutie ontrafeld. Politiek in Friesland 1795–1798.
- Roosendaal, J. (2003) Bataven! Nederlandse vluchtelingen in Frankrijk 1787–1795.
- Schama, S. (1977) Patriots and Liberators. Revolution in the Netherlands 1780 – 1830.