C. V. (Carel Victor) Gerritsen

Born in Amsterdam on 2 February 1850, Carel Victor Gerritsen became a Dutch politician, writer, and outspoken radical liberal. He served on the Amsterdam city council and later in the Dutch parliament, where he was known for progressive views on democracy and social questions.

Gerritsen is especially associated with the women’s movement through his partnership and later marriage with physician and activist Aletta Jacobs. Together they assembled an important collection of books, pamphlets, and documents on women’s history, suffrage, and social reform. That collection became the foundation of what is now known as the Aletta Jacobs collection, a major resource for the study of women’s history.

He died in Amsterdam on 5 July 1905. Though he is often mentioned alongside better-known reformers of his era, his own career stands out for the way it joined political activism, writing, and a lasting commitment to preserving the record of social change.