Dorus Rijkers
Encyclopedia
Theodorus "Dorus" Rijkers (28 January 1847 – 19 April 1928) was a famous Dutch
lifeboat captain
and folk hero
, most famous for his sea rescues of 487 shipwrecked victims over a total of 38 rescue operations, and at least 25 before joining the lifeboat-service.
where he lived. Although the nickname began as a joke
, Dorus soon started acting and looking like a grandpa, and from that time on he became primarily known by his nickname.
(KNRM).
However his life-saving career began in 1872 before he joined the NZHRM, while acting as captain of his own boat. While at sea, he saved all 25 crew members of the barque
Australia from drowning at sea. Because of this incident, Dorus gained a reputation as a rescuer, which preceded his joining the NZHRM as a volunteer. On the basis of his reputation, he was granted the position of coxswain upon joining the NZHRM without having to prove his qualifications. His rank of coxswain entitled him to immediately command his own boat and crew.
Although Dorus joined the NZHRM as a volunteer, he worked so many hours that it precluded him from taking on other paid work. Dorus and all of his crew members received a sum for each trial and each service.
During his nearly 30 years service with the NZHRM, Dorus saved hundreds of people from drowning at sea, becoming legendary long before his retirement. In the waters where he served, he saved such a large number of people with such effectiveness that the survival statistics increased dramatically. At the end of his career, although he remained active, his role became more symbol
ic in nature.
after rescuing sailors from the German
barque Renown. The King gave Dorus a gold medal of honor and smoked a pipe
with him.
. He struggled to make ends meet by eating simple food and living plainly.
During an October 1922 interview with Dr. L.A. Rademaker, editor of the Hague newspaper 'Het Vaderland', Dorus complained about his situation. He claimed that he had been forced to sell the gold medal
of honour in order to buy himself a bicycle
. The Helden der Zee Fonds 'Dorus Rijkers' (Dorus Rijkers Fund for the Heroes of the Sea) was created after Dorus' plight and that of other retired life-savers were chronicled in 'Het Vaderland'.
in size and style. There was music, a big parade, thousands who came to pay their last respects including a large number of Marine Officers, also high ranking government officials, among them representatives of the Ministry of the Navy. The grandeur of his funeral showed the great public esteem in which Dorus was held at the time. Dorus Rijkers had become a national hero and was by far the most popular Dutchman of those years (according to a poll that surveyed many people in the Netherlands
during the 1920s).
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
lifeboat captain
Captain (nautical)
A sea captain is a licensed mariner in ultimate command of the vessel. The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag...
and folk hero
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
, most famous for his sea rescues of 487 shipwrecked victims over a total of 38 rescue operations, and at least 25 before joining the lifeboat-service.
'Opa' Dorus
Dorus received his nickname Grandpa while still a young man. He had married Neeltje Huisman, a fisherman's widow who already had 6 children. Shortly after the marriage, the oldest of Neeltje's daughters had a child of her own, and so at only 23 years old Dorus became known as Opa in Den HelderDen Helder
Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
where he lived. Although the nickname began as a joke
Joke
A joke is a phrase or a paragraph with a humorous twist. It can be in many different forms, such as a question or short story. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices...
, Dorus soon started acting and looking like a grandpa, and from that time on he became primarily known by his nickname.
Career as a lifeboat captain
Dorus gained most of his fame as a result of his service to the Noord- en Zuid-Hollandsche Redding Maatschappij (NZHRM), one of the two main Dutch lifeboat-societies at the time. The NZHRM would later become the Koninklijke Nederlandse Redding MaatschappijKoninklijke Nederlandse Redding Maatschappij
The Royal Netherlands Sea Rescue Institution is the voluntary organization in the Netherlands tasked with saving lives at sea. For that purpose, it maintains 39 lifeboat stations along the Dutch coast of the North Sea and Wadden Sea and on the IJsselmeer...
(KNRM).
However his life-saving career began in 1872 before he joined the NZHRM, while acting as captain of his own boat. While at sea, he saved all 25 crew members of the barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Australia from drowning at sea. Because of this incident, Dorus gained a reputation as a rescuer, which preceded his joining the NZHRM as a volunteer. On the basis of his reputation, he was granted the position of coxswain upon joining the NZHRM without having to prove his qualifications. His rank of coxswain entitled him to immediately command his own boat and crew.
Although Dorus joined the NZHRM as a volunteer, he worked so many hours that it precluded him from taking on other paid work. Dorus and all of his crew members received a sum for each trial and each service.
During his nearly 30 years service with the NZHRM, Dorus saved hundreds of people from drowning at sea, becoming legendary long before his retirement. In the waters where he served, he saved such a large number of people with such effectiveness that the survival statistics increased dramatically. At the end of his career, although he remained active, his role became more symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
ic in nature.
Honored by King William III
In 1888, Dorus Rijkers met King William III of the NetherlandsWilliam III of the Netherlands
William III was from 1849 King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg until his death and the Duke of Limburg until the abolition of the Duchy in 1866.-Early life:William was born in Brussels as son of William II of the Netherlands and...
after rescuing sailors from the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
barque Renown. The King gave Dorus a gold medal of honor and smoked a pipe
Cannabis smoking
Cannabis smoking involves inhaling vapors released by heating the flowers and subtending leaves of the Cannabis plants, known as marijuana. Alternatively, the cannabis plant flowers may be finely sifted producing kief, a powder especially rich in the oil-glands or trichomes which contain the...
with him.
Retirement
In 1911, Dorus retired at age 64, after which he received only a very small pensionPension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
. He struggled to make ends meet by eating simple food and living plainly.
During an October 1922 interview with Dr. L.A. Rademaker, editor of the Hague newspaper 'Het Vaderland', Dorus complained about his situation. He claimed that he had been forced to sell the gold medal
Medal
A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...
of honour in order to buy himself a bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
. The Helden der Zee Fonds 'Dorus Rijkers' (Dorus Rijkers Fund for the Heroes of the Sea) was created after Dorus' plight and that of other retired life-savers were chronicled in 'Het Vaderland'.
Death
In April 1928, Dorus Rijkers died at the age of 81. He was given a funeral that was so grand that it resembled a state funeralState funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
in size and style. There was music, a big parade, thousands who came to pay their last respects including a large number of Marine Officers, also high ranking government officials, among them representatives of the Ministry of the Navy. The grandeur of his funeral showed the great public esteem in which Dorus was held at the time. Dorus Rijkers had become a national hero and was by far the most popular Dutchman of those years (according to a poll that surveyed many people in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
during the 1920s).
Legacy
There is a huge statue erected in honor of all the Netherlands sea-rescuers , opened in 1935. This statue is sometimes mistakenly assumed to be in honor of Dorus. In fact, a separate, smaller statue of Dorus was erected in 1939 One of the rescue boats of the KNRM still carries his name with pride. Dorus is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest rescuers of all time.Streets named after Dorus Rijkers
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in Alphen aan den RijnAlphen aan den RijnAlphen aan den Rijn is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, between Leiden and Utrecht. The town is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn , where the river Gouwe branches off. The municipality had a population of 72,674 in 2010, and covers an...
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in AmersfoortAmersfoortAmersfoort is a municipality and the second largest city of the province of Utrecht in central Netherlands. The city is growing quickly but has a well-preserved and protected medieval centre. Amersfoort is one of the largest railway junctions in the country, because of its location on two of the...
- Dorus Rijkershof in AmsterdamAmsterdamAmsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in Borne
- Dorus Rijkersrede in Capelle aan den IJsselCapelle aan den IJsselCapelle aan den IJssel is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality had a population of 65,605 in 2005, and covers an area of 15.42 km² of which 1.13 km² is water...
- Dorus Rijkersplein in Den Haag
- Theodorus Rijkersstraat in Den HelderDen HelderDen Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in DinteloordDinteloordDinteloord is a village in the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant.The village has 5,600 inhabitants Dinteloord is known because of the sugarplant that it houses, and the Muza festivals that have been held for over 50 years.- History :...
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in DordrechtDordrechtDordrecht , colloquially Dordt, historically in English named Dort, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the fourth largest city of the province, having a population of 118,601 in 2009...
- Dorus Rijkersplein in Egmond aan ZeeEgmond aan ZeeEgmond aan Zee is a village on the North Sea coast in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Bergen, and lies about 9 km west of Alkmaar....
- Dorus Rijkerssstraat in GenemuidenGenemuidenGenemuiden is a city located in the north western part of the Province of Overijssel. It received city rights in 1275 which is also the first time Genemuiden gets mentioned in history....
- Dorus Rijkerssstraat in Groningen
- Dorus Rijkerskade in Leiden
- Dorus Rijkersweg in Leiden
- Dorus Rijkerstraat in MiddelburgMiddelburgMiddelburg is a municipality and a city in the south-western Netherlands and the capital of the province of Zeeland. It is situated in the Midden-Zeeland region. It has a population of about 48,000.- History of Middelburg :...
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in ReeuwijkReeuwijkReeuwijk is a former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covers an area of 50.11 km²...
- Dorus Rijkersstraat in TerneuzenTerneuzenTerneuzen is a city and municipality in the southwestern Netherlands, in the province of Zeeland, in the middle of Zeelandic Flanders. With over 55,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous municipality of Zeeland.-Population centres :...
Sources
- Bremer, Jan. the chapter: 'Dorus Rijkers (1847–1928); Koning der Blauwe zeeridders' in 'Roeiredders aan het Marsdiep 1824-1923'; Nationaal Reddingmuseum Dorus Rijkers and the Helderse Historische Vereniging, Den Helder; November 1998, ISBN 90-6455-294-0. pp. 111–140. This book forms is volume 9 of the series: Helderse Historische Reeks. (Jan T. Bremer is a well-informed, serious author on especially historical/geographical matters about the Noordkop (the region around Den Helder in The Netherlands).
- Adema, Tjeerd. 'Dorus Rijkers; De Heldersche Menschenredder'; ; published by Egner in Helder (not: Den Helder) in 1928.