Alexander de Savornin Lohman

Jhr. Alexander Frederik de Savornin Lohman (29 May 1837 – 11 June 1924) was a Dutch politician and leader of the Christian Historical Union during the first quarter of the 20th century. He was a member of the lower Dutch nobility and held the predicate of jonkheer. He was born into a family of Walloon Reformed extraction. During his studies he became a supporter of the anti-revolutionary cause of Guillaume Groen van Prinsterer and he was elected to the Dutch House of Representatives for the Anti-Revolutionary Party (ARP) in 1879. He remained a member of parliament until 1921. Throughout his career he would serve as member of the House of Representatives, member of the Senate and, for a short while, minister. He was noted for his vehement attacks against his opponents, but was generally considered to be receptive of the arguments of his peers. De Savornin Lohman got involved in politics whilst serving as a judge at the court of 's-Hertogenbosch. There he became party to a conflict over Christian schools. He soon met Abraham Kuyper, another anti-revolutionary politician who would dominate Dutch politics in the years to come. When Kuyper was suffering from burnout in 1876 and 1877 De Savornin Lohman replaced him as chief editor of the Standaard, the anti-revolutionary newspaper. De Savornin Lohman went on, at times reluctantly, to become Kuyper's most important collaborator in his many projects (the School Struggle, the foundation of the Anti Revolutionary Party in 1879, the Doleantie in 1886 and the creation of the Free University of Amsterdam in 1879). De Savornin Lohman's entry in politics coincided with the introduction of party discipline into Dutch politics. As an aristocrat De Savornin Lohman was torn between the opinion of his fellow aristocrats, who considered politics to be a personal thing, and the opinion of his leader and friend Kuyper, who found party discipline and the democratic process of the utmost importance. Further conflict ensued when De Savornin Lohman became Minister of the Interior, replacing Æneas Mackay, who in turn replaced Keuchenius as Minister of Colonial Affairs. The Dutch parliament had refused supply to Keuchenius's budget and Mackay wanted to save the government. Kuyper wanted to have a general election and sought the fall of the government. De Savornin Lohman and most of the Anti Revolutionary Party supported the government. Two factions in the ARP now emerged, one led by Kuyper the other by De Savornin Lohman.