Samuel van Houten was a Dutch liberal politician, who served as Minister of the Interior from 1894 to 1897.
Samuel van Houten
An illustration showing children cheering for Van Houten, on whose initiative child labour was abolished.
The Röell cabinet, with Van Houten standing on the left.
Liberalism in the Netherlands
Liberalism in the Netherlands started as an anti-monarchical effort spearheaded by the Dutch statesman Thorbecke, who almost single-handedly wrote the 1848 Constitution of the Netherlands that turned the country into a constitutional monarchy.
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke in 1852, during his first term as Prime Minister.