Dr. Theodorus van Kooten (Leeuwarden, 22 October 1749 – Bennebroek, 1 February 1813) was a Dutch poet, professor and politician.

Van Kooten was the son of the sexton

Sexton (office)

A sexton is a church, congregation or synagogue officer charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard. In smaller places of worship, this office is often combined with that of verger...

 at Leeuwarden, and amazed all visitors to his father's house by translating randomly selected pieces from the Greek bible into Dutch. Van Kooten became Kampen

Kampen

Campen or Kampen may refer:* Campen, Germany, a village by the Ems estuary, northwestern Germany, home of the Campen Lighthouse* Kampen, Germany, a municipality on the island Sylt, Germany* Kampen, Overijssel, a town in the Netherlands...

's rector in 1772. From 1784, he was professor of Latin language and history at the College of Franeker

Franeker

Franeker is one of the eleven historical cities of Friesland and capital of the municipality of Franekeradeel. It is located about 20 km west of Leeuwarden on the Van Harinxma Canal. As of 1 January 2006, it had 12,996 inhabitants. The city is famous for the Eisinga Planetarium from around...

. He had to take forced redundancy from there in 1787 due to his Patriot

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....

 sympathies. He remained he in exile 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....

 until 1795, where he wrote Latin poems.

Van Kooten was - together with 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:...

 and Samuel Iperusz Wiselius - a member of the committee for the deconstruction of the VOC

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

. On the recommendation of Johannes Henricus Nieuwold, in 1798 Van Kooten became the first minister of education ("Agent for National Education"). A year later he was replaced by Johannes van der Palm

Johannes van der Palm

Johannes Hendricus van der Palm was a Dutch poet, theologian, politician and professor.-Life:...

. He traveled to Madrid as secretary to Johan Valckenaer

Johan Valckenaer

Johan Valckenaer was a Dutch lawyer, patriot and diplomat.- Life :His father Lodewijk Caspar Valckenaer was Franeker university's professor of law and, in 1766, was appointed to succeed Tiberius Hemsterhuis at Leiden...

, who had become the Batavian Republic

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....

's extraordinary ambassador to Spain. In 1801 they returned, but van Kooten remained Valckenaer's housemate in Bennebroek

Bennebroek

Bennebroek is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland, now part of Bloemendaal municipality. Before its merger, it was the smallest municipality in the Netherlands, covering an area of only 1.75 km².-History:...

, while his wife and children lived in Kampen. "Dorus Droefheid" died aged 63.