The Hague plans Aletta Jacobs statue by end of 2028
The Hague plans to unveil a statue of the feminist pioneer at the Wijnhaven, near the Leiden University campus, by the end of 2028, after dropping the Hofvijver as the site.
Aletta Jacobs (1854-1929) is to get a statue at the Wijnhaven in the centre of The Hague, close to the Leiden University campus in the city. The municipality wants it unveiled by the end of 2028 at the latest.
That is well ahead of the 100th anniversary of her death on 10 August 2029, the alderman (wethouder) Lotte van Basten Batenburg said. She called the Wijnhaven a "suitable location".
Jacobs was the first female doctor in the Netherlands and campaigned for women's suffrage, which was introduced in September 1919. According to the municipality, that made her well suited to be honoured in the city, even though she was born in Sappemeer, in Groningen province.
Former Speaker of the House Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven, then a PvdA city councillor, took the initiative for the statue in 2017.
The statue was first meant to stand at the Hofvijver, but Van Basten Batenburg says that spot is not suitable. "The scale and look of the intended statue do not fit well with the green character and the other statues along the Hofvijver," she wrote.
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