Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek

In this Dutch name, the surname is Van Karnebeek, not Karnebeek.

Jonkheer Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek (21 August 1874 – 29 March 1942) was a Dutch politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1918 until his resignation in 1927. In that capacity, he was President of the Assembly of the League of Nations in 1921 and 1922.

Van Karnebeek in 1911

Biography

A native of The Hague, his father was Abraham van Karnebeek (1836–1925), a conservative-liberal politician who also served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, from 1885 to 1888.

Herman Adriaan van Karnebeek studied law at the University of Utrecht. A conservative liberal like his father, he served as mayor of The Hague (1911–1918) before becoming Minister of Foreign Affairs on 9 September 1918 in the first cabinet of Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck. A staunch pro-German, he continued to serve as Foreign Minister in the first cabinet of Dr. Hendrik Colijn. He eventually resigned when his concept treaty with Belgium was rejected by a parliamentary majority on 1 April 1927, but was appointed to the honorific title of Minister of State. In 1928, he became Queen's commissioner in South Holland, a position he held until his death in 1942. From 1936 until his death, he also served as chairman of the Carnegie Foundation.

He died on 29 March 1942, aged 67, in The Hague.

Private life

Van Karnebeek was married to Baroness Adriana J.C. van Wassenaar van Rosande. One of his four sons, jonkheer (jhr.) Maurits Pieter Marie van Karnebeek (1908–1985), was mayor of Zwolle from 1940 to 1944.

In 1923 he bought the estate De Eese on the provincial border between Overijssel, Drenthe and Friesland. As of 2013, the estate is still the property of the Van Karnebeek family. From 1889 onwards, he was a cricket player for The Hague Cricket Club (HCC).

Honours

• 1922: Grand Cross,
• 1925: Grand Cordon, Order of Leopold.
• Order of Saint Sava, I degree.