Aarnoud van Heemstra

Aarnoud van Heemstra.

Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid baron van Heemstra (22 Jul 1871, Vreeland — 30 December 1957, Oosterbeek) was a Dutchs jurist en politician.

Career

Van Heemstra was born the son of the mayor of Loenen. He studied at Utrecht University where he obtained his doctorate in law in 1896. He established himself in Arnhem where he was prosecuting lawyer and subsequently deputy judge at the district court. In 1902 he was appointed official at the district court in Roermond and in October 1909 deputy public prosecutor at the arrondissement court of Maastricht. In 1910 he became mayor of the city of Arnhem, following Antonie Röell and preceding Dirk Jan de Geer. In 1920 Wilhelmina of the Netherlands appointed him governor of Suriname, from which he retired in 1928. Living in the Arnhem region, he redacted a political economic magazine until 1940.

Refusing to collaborate with the NSB during the war, the German occupiers confiscated many of his possessions, including estates, bank accounts, and even jewelry. He was forced to move out of the estate Zijpendaal outside Arnhem to Oosterbeek and later Velp. In 1942 his son-in-law Otto graaf van Limburg Stirum was executed in retaliation for a sabotage by the resistance movement. During the war years his divorced daughter Ella van Heemstra (1900-1984) lived with him, together with her three children, among whom the future actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993).

Family

In 1896 he married Elbrig Willemine Henriette, Baroness van Asbeck (1873-1939), who was a granddaughter of Dirk van Hogendorp. They had six children, five daughters and one son:

• Wilhelmina Cornelia (Miesje) baroness van Heemstra (1897-1987), married to Otto graaf van Limburg Stirum (1893-1942)
• Geraldine Caroline baroness van Heemstra (1898-1965)
• Ella baroness van Heemstra (1900-1984) mother of actress Audrey Hepburn
• Marianne Jacqueline baroness van Heemstra (1903-1991), lady-in-waiting to princess and later Queen Juliana of the Netherlands
• Willem Hendrik Johan baron van Heemstra (1907- 1978)
• Arnoudina Johanna baroness van Heemstra (1911-1975)

References

• HEEMSTRA, Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid baron van (1871-1957) at historici.nl. (in Dutch)