Herman van Roijen (1871–1933)


Jan Herman van Roijen was a Dutch diplomat.

Early life

Jan Herman was born on 28 March 1871, in Zwolle, Overijssel. He was a son of Jan Hermannus van Roijen and the former Anna Aleida van Engelen. His father served as an Alderman of Zwolle.
A member of the politically prominent Van Roijen family, his paternal grandparents were Senator Isaäc Antoni van Roijen and Anna Gesina van Engelen and his maternal grandparents were Nicolaas van Engelen and Margaretha Machteld Francina Badings. Among his uncles were Hendricus Nicolaus van Roijen, Berend van Roijen, and Stephanus Jacobus van Roijen.

Career

From 1905 to 1908, during the administration of Prime Minister Theo de Meester, he served as the Dutch chargé d'affaires to the United Kingdom in London. During Theo Heemskerk's tenure as prime minister from 1908 to 1913, Van Roijen was the Dutch Minister to the United States.
From 1913 to 1919, he served as the Dutch Minister to Madrid under Prime Minister Pieter Cort van der Linden and Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck, followed by Dutch Minister to Italy Rome from 1919 to 1927. He again served as the Dutch Minister to the United States from 1927 to 1933.
Upon his return to New York, he was honored by several Netherland Societies, including the Netherland-America Foundation. In 1931, he brought Queen Wilhelmina's greetings to the 41st annual dinner of the Holland Society of New York.

Personal life

On 17 May 1904, Van Roijen was married to Albertina Taylor Winthrop at the residence of the bride's mother, 38 East 37th Street overlooking Park Avenue in New York City, by the Reverend William Reed Huntington, rector of Grace Church. She was the daughter of banker Robert Winthrop and the former Kate Wilson Taylor. Her brother, Beekman Winthrop, was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Taft Administration, and her sister Katharine Taylor Winthrop, was the wife of U.S. Senator Hamilton Fish Kean. Together, they were the parents of two sons:
While on his annual vacation back in Holland, Van Roijen died at his villa in The Hague on 31 August 1933.

Descendants

Through his eldest son Jan Herman, he was a grandfather of four. Through his son Robert, he was a grandfather of Peter Portner van Roijen, who was married to Beatrice Sterling Frelinghuysen, by the Right Reverend Anson Phelps Stokes, in 1970, and Robert Dudley van Roijen Jr., who married Susan Emily Frelinghuysen in 1981.