Jan Herman van Roijen (10 April 1905 – 16 March 1991) was a Dutch diplomat and politician.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/20/obituaries/jan-h-van-roijen-85-former-envoy-to-us.html|title=Jan H. van Roijen, 85, Former Envoy to U.S.|date=March 20, 1991|work=The New York Times|access-date=10 October 2012}} He was Dutch foreign minister in 1946.{{cite web|url=http://www.parlement.com/cgi-bin/as.cgi/0353000/c/start/file=/9353000/1f/j9vvhy5i95k8zxl/vg09lljh08xs|title=Dr. J.H. (Herman) van Roijen|work=Parlement & Politiek|publisher=Parlementair Documentatie Centrum|language=nl|access-date=10 October 2012}}

Early life

Van Roijen was born in Constantinople on 10 April 1905. He was the son of Jan Herman van Roijen Sr (1871–1933) and the American-born Albertina Taylor Winthrop (1871–1934), who married in May 1904.{{cite news |title=WEDDINGS OF A DAY; Van Roijen -- Winthrop. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/05/18/101236271.pdf |access-date=23 September 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=18 May 1904}} When he was born, his father was a diplomat in Constantinople.

His maternal grandparents were banker Robert Winthrop and the former Kate Wilson Taylor (a daughter of Moses Taylor, a prominent railroad financier who served as president of National City Bank). Among his maternal family was uncle Beekman Winthrop, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in the Taft Administration, and aunt Katharine Taylor Winthrop, the wife of U.S. Senator Hamilton Fish Kean.{{cite news |title=MRS. WINTHROP LEFT $13,495,493 ESTATE; Other Millions, Distributed After Death of Banker's Widow, Omitted From Appraisal. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/12/16/101445878.pdf |access-date=23 September 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=16 December 1927}}

He received a Ph.D. from the University of Utrecht.

Career

File:Uitreiking Wateler Vredesprijs aan dr. Van Roijen in Vredespaleis v.m. ambassade, Bestanddeelnr 932-8430.jpg, 1984.]]File:Dr. J. H. van Roijen ontvangt de Freedom from Fear Award uit handen van Curtis R, Bestanddeelnr 932-3656.jpg, 1982.]]

Van Roijen's diplomatic career began in the 1930s when he joined the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1930 and was an attache in Washington for three years. He also held positions in embassies in Tokyo as well as positions at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hague. In 1939, he was named head of the political division at the ministry.

Following the war, he represented the Netherlands at various conferences linked to the nascent United Nations, including the United Nations Conference on International Organization in San Francisco.

After his brief stint as the Dutch foreign minister, he was the ambassador to Canada (1947–1950), to the United States (1950–1964),{{cite news |title=Dutch Envoy Gets Warm Goodby After 13 Years in Post in U.S.; Van Roijen's Sincerity Made Him a Favorite Despite His Country's Position |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/03/02/106942097.pdf |access-date=23 September 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=2 March 1964}} and jointly to the United Kingdom and to Iceland (1964–1970).

=Awards=

In 1982 he received the inaugural Freedom from Fear Award and in 1984 he received the Wateler Peace Prize for his diplomatic efforts.

He received an Honorary Doctor of Civil Law from The University of Toledo on June 8, 1957.

Personal life

File:Minister Van Roijen , mevrouw Van Roijen en Minister Logeman, Bestanddeelnr 901-4980.jpg

Van Roijen was married to Anne Snouck Hurgronje, a daughter of Aarnout Marinus Snouck Hurgronje. Together, they were the parents of two sons, Jan Herman and Willem, and two daughters, Tina van Notten and Digna van Karnebeek. While in America, they owned a 300-acre farm in Warrenton, Virginia.

He died, aged eighty-five, on 16 March 1991 at Wassenaar in South Holland.