In 2004, the broadcasting company, KRO (Publieke Omroep) conducted a vote to discover the greatest Dutchmen/Dutchwomen of all time (De Grootste Nederlander). The series is based on BBC's 100 Greatest Britons. During the series, it included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote after each programme.

The assassinated politician Pim Fortuyn was announced as the winner in a live television broadcast on November 15, 2004, two weeks after Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered in Amsterdam. This was said to be an "embarrassing" choice by several journalists and historians. The amount of calls was so large that not all could be counted before the end of the show; later it was announced that if all calls had counted, William of Orange would have won.

Contents

1 The top ten 2 From 11-50 3 From 51-100 4 From 101-202 5 External links 6 Other Great People

The top ten

1. Pim Fortuyn
2. Willem van Oranje
3. Willem Drees
4. Antoni van Leeuwenhoek
5. Desiderius Erasmus
6. Johan Cruijff
7. Michiel de Ruyter
8. Anne Frank
9. Rembrandt van Rijn
10. Vincent van Gogh

From 11-50

11 Aletta Jacobs

12 Christiaan Huygens

13 Annie M.G. Schmidt

14 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands

15 Johan Rudolf Thorbecke

16 Majoor Bosshardt

17 Anton Philips

18 Freddy Heineken

19 Hannie Schaft

20 Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands

21 Baruch de Spinoza

22 Toon Hermans

23 Prince Claus

24 Johan van Oldenbarnevelt

25 Marco van Basten

26 Piet Hein

27 Joop den Uyl

28 Jan Adriaenszoon Leeghwater

29 Fanny Blankers-Koen

30 van Kooten en de Bie

31 Hugo de Groot

32 Johan de Witt

33 Anthony Fokker

34 Multatuli

35 Prince Bernhard

36 Wim Kok

37 M.C. Escher

38 Marco Borsato

39 Eric Hazelhoff Roelfzema

40 DJ Tiësto

41 Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands

42 Titus Brandsma

43 Cornelis Lely

44 Hans Teeuwen

45 Joseph Luns

46 Leontien Zijlaard-van Moorsel

47 Willem Kolff

48 Godfried Bomans

49 Hendrik Lorentz

50 Abel Tasman

From 51-100

51 Joop van den Ende

52 André van Duin

53 Joost van den Vondel

54 Rinus Michels

55 Mies Bouwman

56 Willem Barentsz

57 Ferdinand Domela Nieuwenhuis

58 Ruud Lubbers

59 Jan Tinbergen

60 Wim Sonneveld

61 Joke Smit

62 Frits Bolkestein

63 Jeroen Bosch

64 Johnny Kraaykamp, sr

65 Marga Klompé

66 Johannes Vermeer

67 Dick Bruna

68 Albert Plesman

69 Joop Zoetemelk

70 Hella Haasse

71 Thomas à Kempis

72 Koning-Stadhouder Willem III of Orange

73 Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer

74 Johannes Diderik van der Waals

75 Wubbo Ockels

76 Anna Maria van Schurman

77 Herman Boerhaave

78 Ruud Gullit

79 Monique van der Ven

80 Freek de Jonge

81 Anton Pieck

82 Boudewijn de Groot

83 Willem Frederik Hermans

84 Pieter Jelles Troelstra

85 Albert Heijn

86 Paul de Leeuw

87 Jac. P. Thijsse

88 Jan Wolkers

89 Piet Mondriaan

90 Simon Stevin

91 Willem Groen van Prinsterer

92 Rutger Hauer

93 Harry Mulisch

94 Abraham Kuyper

95 Maarten Tromp

96 Wim Kan

97 Paul Verhoeven

98 Belle van Zuylen

99 Ramses Shaffy

100 Abe Lenstra

From 101-202

101 Gerard Reve

102 Anton de Kom

103 Max Euwe

104 Ko van Dijk

105 Gerrit Jan van der Veen

106 Hendrik Petrus Berlage

107 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes

108 Anton Geesink

109 Bert Haanstra

110 Claudius Civilis

111 C.H.D. Buys Ballot

112 Jan Pieterszoon Coen

113 Samuel van Houten

114 Ard Schenk

115 Nico Tinbergen

116 King Willem I of the Netherlands

117 Mary Dresselhuys

118 Simon Carmiggelt

119 John de Mol

120 Gerrit Rietveld

121 Frank Martinus Arion

122 Hans van Mierlo

123 Hadewych

124 Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck

125 Geert Groote

126 Sonja Barend

127 Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol

128 Jan van Speijk

129 Anton Corbijn

130 Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft

131 Bernard Haitink

132 Willem van Loon

133 Karel Appel

134 Johan Huizinga

135 Suze Groeneweg

136 Graaf Floris V

137 Koning Lodewijk Napoleon

138 L.E.J. Brouwer

139 Tobias Asser

140 Rem Koolhaas

141 Jacob Cats

142 Alexandra Radius

143 Eva Besnyö

144 Jan Rutgers

145 Reinier Paping

146 Paul Huf

147 P. J. H. Cuypers

148 Paul Crutzen

149 Samuel Sarphati

150 Frits Fentener van Vlissingen

151 Joris Ivens

152 Pieter Brueghel

153 Frans Hals

154 Simon Vestdijk

155 Olivier van Noort

156 Hendrik Colijn

157 Willem Beukelszoon

158 Viktor en Rolf

159 Cornelis Verolme

160 Lucebert

161 Sjoukje Dijkstra

162 Henri Polak

163 Loe de Jong

164 Ed van der Elsken

165 Hans van Manen

166 Theo Thijssen

167 Jan Steen

168 Anton Dreesmann

169 Jaap Eden

170 Willem Marinus Dudok

171 Johnny Jordaan

172 Benno Premsela

173 Louis Davids

174 Marlene Dumas

175 Erwin Olaf

176 Martinus Nijhoff

177 Christina Deutekom

178 Jacob Olie

179 Willem de Kooning

180 Remco Campert

181 Herman Gorter

182 Faas Wilkes

183 W.A. Visser ‘t Hooft

184 Ada Kok

185 Herman Daendels

186 Rudi Carrell

187 Pierre Bokma

188 Louis Andriessen

189 Henk Hofland

190 Jacob van Campen

191 Pieter Willem Adriaan Cort van der Linden

192 Jacob van Ruisdael

193 Theo van Doesburg

194 Pieter Saenredam

195 Ootje Oxenaar

196 Rineke Dijkstra

197 Hendrik Doeff

198 Fons Rademakers

199 Reinbert de Leeuw

200 Erik de Vries

201 Jan Dibbets

202 Johan van der Keuken

203 Prins Bernard

External links

The Greatest Dutchman (http://www.degrootstenederlander.nl/start.php)

Other Great People

• 100 Greatest Britons (Great Britain)
• Unsere Besten (Germany)
• The Greatest Canadian (Canada)
• Great South Africans (South Africa)
• Suuret Suomalaiset (Finland)
• Belg der Belgen (Belgium)

nl:De grootste Nederlander