Johan Rudolph Thorbecke

Johan Rudolph Thorbecke
Portrait by Johan Heinrich Neuman [nl], 1852
Prime Minister of the Netherlands
In office
4 January 1871 – 4 June 1872
MonarchWilliam III
Preceded byPieter Philip van Bosse
Succeeded byGerrit de Vries
In office
1 February 1862 – 10 February 1866
MonarchWilliam III
Preceded bySchelto van Heemstra
Succeeded byIsaäc Dignus Fransen van de Putte
In office
1 November 1849 – 19 April 1853
MonarchWilliam III
Preceded byJacob de Kempenaer
Succeeded byFloris Adriaan van Hall
Minister of the Interior
In office
4 January 1871 – 4 June 1872
Preceded byCornelis Fock [nl]
Succeeded byPieter Philip van Bosse
In office
1 February 1862 – 10 February 1866
Preceded bySchelto van Heemstra
Succeeded byJohan Herman Geertsema Carelszoon [nl]
In office
1 November 1849 – 19 April 1853
Preceded byJacob de Kempenaer
Succeeded byGerlach Cornelis Joannes van Reenen
Member of the House of Representatives
In office
25 February 1868 – 4 January 1871
In office
19 November 1866 – 3 January 1868
In office
14 March 1866 – 1 October 1866
In office
27 June 1853 – 31 January 1862
In office
17 October 1848 – 31 October 1849
In office
21 May 1844 – 19 October 1845
Personal details
Born
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke

(1798-01-14)14 January 1798
Zwolle, Batavian Republic
Died4 June 1872(1872-06-04) (aged 74)
The Hague, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
Spouse
Adelheid Solger
(m. 1836; died 1870)
Children6
Alma materLeiden University
Occupation
  • Politician
  • civil servant
  • jurist
  • historian
  • professor
  • author
Signature

Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (14 January 1798 – 4 June 1872) was a Dutch liberal statesman, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century. Thorbecke is best known for heading the commission that drafted the revision of the Constitution of the Netherlands in 1848, amidst the liberal democratic revolutions of 1848. The new constitution transformed the country from an absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy, with the States General and the Council of Ministers becoming more powerful than the king. The amended constitution also granted individual rights to residents and citizens of the kingdom. This made the constitution one of the more progressive at the time. Thorbecke is generally considered a founding father of the modern political system of the Netherlands.