Witt, Jan de 1625-72
Dutch statesman

Born in Dort, the son of Jacob de Witt, a vehement opponent of William II, Prince of Orange, he was one of the deputies sent by the States of Holland in 1652 to Zeeland to dissuade that province from adopting an Orange policy. In 1653 he was made Grand Pensionary. The Orange Party, during the war between England and Holland, strove to increase the power of the young prince (afterwards William III); the republican (or oligarchic) Party, made up of the nobles and the wealthier burgesses, with de Witt at their head, sought to abolish the office of stadtholder. In 1654, on the conclusion of the war, a secret article in the treaty drawn up between de Witt and Cromwell deprived the House of Orange of all state offices. After the restoration of Charles II, de Witt favoured France, especially during the two years' renewal of hostilities with England (1665-67).