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Hendrik Kruys (1851-1907) was a Dutch merchant in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Biography[edit]
Hendrik Kruys was born in Vriezenveen, Overijssel, on 10 December, 1851. His father Claas Kruys (1802-1877) was Mayor of Vriezenveen from 1852-1870, and a merchant at the firm Jansen, Joost & Co in Saint Petersburg, Russia. His mother was Frederika Bramer (1823-1899), the second wife of his father. Hendrik was a half brother of Gerhardus Kruys, a Dutch vice admiral and minister of Navy.[1][2]
History[edit]
Hendrik was a member of the ‘Rusluie’, a Dutch community in the city of Saint Petersburg. From 1712 to 1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of the Russian empire of the tsars. The Rusluie originally came from the town of Vriezenveen in the Netherlands, including members of the Kruys family.[3]
The distance between Vriezenveen and Saint Petersburg is about 2,400 kilometres. According to a description in the diary of Hendrik's uncle Jacob Kruys (1812-1852), the journey by covered wagon led through Osnabrück, Berlin and Riga and took 15 days.[4]
Between 1720 and 1917, several hundred people from Vriezenveen lived in Saint Petersburg. Although they formed a tight community with their own customs, most eventually returned home to enjoy their acquired wealth.[5]
Trading house 'Java'[edit]
In 1868 Hendrik travelled with his father to the Russian capital. He became an apprentice at the Dutch textile company Engberts & Co, selling linnen.[6]
In 1884, Hendrik started his own trading house ‘Java’ on Grosse Morskaya 38, where he sold Dutch coffee and cocoa, tea, spices, liquor, Delft pottery and other products. In the early days, cacao was not very popular in Russia. Customers visiting Hendrik's store were offered a cup of hot cocoa by his Russian sister-in-law Katarina Awdejewa (1854-1921), the wife of his half-brother Bernardus Kruys (1840-1911).[3]
As cocoa became more popular, his business flourished and Hendrik eventually opened another six specialty shops in the city. He became the sole representative for Blooker’s cocoa in the Russian empire. He made many sales trips across European Russia, which he referred to as his 'cacao travels'.
In 1890, he married the Dutch Alida Boom (1861-1940) in Vriezenveen. She followed him to the Russian capital. A year later a daughter was born, over the years followed by three sons. All their children were born in Saint Petersburg. In 1897, after the birth of their youngest child, Alida and the children returned to Vriezenveen for health reasons. Hendrik remained in Russia. He visited his family regularly.[2][3]
Russian revolution[edit]
In his diary (archived at the Vriezenveen Historical Museum), Hendrik recorded many events and developments, including the beginning of the first Russian Revolution of 1905: “A lot of commotion in the city and people shot by soldiers. Many shops were looted, but thankfully Java was not damaged.”[3]
As his health deteriorated, Hendrik eventually left Saint Petersburg to join his family in Vriezenveen. The business was taken over by Bernardus Kruys. After the revolution of 1917 the situation worsened. When the bolsheviks came to power, businesses were nationalised, which eventually signalled the end of the Dutch-Russian community.[3][7]
Death[edit]
Hendrik passed away in Vriezenveen on 24 May 1907, at the age of 55.
References[edit]
- ^ Wie was wie?. Centrum voor familiegeschiedenis, Den Haag.
- ^ a b " Familiearchief Kruys. Nederlands Instituut voor Militaire Historie (NIMH) (in Dutch).
- ^ a b c d e "Van assimilatie tot segregatie: de Nederlandse kolonie in Sint-Petersburg. 1856-1917". Jelena Sergejevna van Wijngaarden-Xiounina. Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen 2007 (in Dutch).
- ^ Jacob Kruys – een historisch reisverslag. Gert Pape, Historisch Museum van Vriezenveen (in Dutch).
- ^ "Popov stamt uit Vriezenveen". Gert Jan Rohmensen. Trouw, 25 september 2003 (in Dutch).
- ^ Vriezenveners in St. Petersburg. Vereniging oud Vriezenveen (in Dutch).
- ^ Russian Revolution. History.com. March 27, 2024.