Gerrit, Count Schimmelpenninck (25 February 1794, Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

 – 4 October 1863, Arnhem

Arnhem

Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...

) was a Dutch businessman and statesman

Statesman

A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...

, whose views ranged from liberal to conservative. He was the son of Grand Pensionary Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck

Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck

Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck , Lord of Nyenhuis, Peckedam and Gellicum, was a Dutch politician of the Batavian Republic and an investor in the Holland Land Company....

 and a member of the Dutch Reformed Church

Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church was a Reformed Christian denomination in the Netherlands. It existed from the 1570s to 2004, the year it merged with the Reformed Churches in the Netherlands and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Kingdom of the Netherlands to form the Protestant Church in the...

 (Nederlands Hervormde kerk).

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

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

The primary reason of William II

William II of the Netherlands

William II was King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg, and Duke of Limburg from 7 October 1840 until his death in 1849.- Early life and education :...

 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

Prime Minister of the Netherlands

The Prime Minister of the Netherlands is the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Netherlands. He is the de facto head of government of the Netherlands and coordinates the policy of the government...

, holding the ministerial offices of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Finance

Ministry of Finance (Netherlands)

The Ministry of Finance is the Dutch ministry of finance: it is occupied with the national budget, taxation and financial economic policy, including supervision of financial markets...

. His proposal to design a Constitution

Constitution

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...

 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.