Aarnoud van Heemstra

Aarnoud Jan Anne Aleid, Baron van Heemstra was a Dutch jurist and politician.

Baron Van Heemstra was born in Vreeland, the son of Wilhelmina Cornelia and Willem Hendrik Johan Baron van Heemstra , the mayor of Loenen. He also had an older brother, Hendrik Philip Jacob Baron van Heemstra . He studied at Utrecht University where he obtained his doctorate in law in 1896. He established himself in Arnhem where he was prosecuting lawyer and subsequently deputy judge at the district court. In 1902 he was appointed official at the district court in Roermond and in October 1909 deputy public prosecutor at the arrondissement court of Maastricht. In 1910 he became mayor of the city of Arnhem, following Antonie Rell and preceding Dirk Jan de Geer. In 1920 Wilhelmina of the Netherlands appointed him governor of Suriname, from which he retired in 1928. Living in the Arnhem region, he redacted a political economic magazine until 1940. In 1946, he became the first openly homosexual dutch politician.

Source: Wikipedia