Cornelis de Witt (15 June 1623 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch States Navy officer and statesman. During the First Stadtholderless Period, De Witt was an influential member of the Dutch States Party, and was opposed to the House of Orange. In the Rampjaar of 1672, he and his brother Johan de Witt were lynched and their remains eaten by a crowd incited by Orangist partisans.
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Life
De Witt family
Cornelis de Witt was a member of the old Dutch patrician family De Witt. His father was Jacob de Witt, an influential regent and burgher from the patrician class in the city of Dordrecht, which in the 17th century was one of the most important cities of the dominating province of Holland. De Witt's mother was Anna van den Corput (1599–1645), niece of Johannes Corputius, an influential Dutch military leader and cartographer. His younger brother Johan de Witt was Grand Pensionary of Holland from 1653 to 1672. His uncle Andries de Witt previously held the position of Grand Pensionary between 1619 and 1621. Through the marriage of one of his other uncles to Margaretha of Nassau, daughter of Anna Johanna of Nassau-Siegen, De Witt was a distant relative of William of Orange-Nassau. Another relationship led him to the Tromps, Maarten and his son Cornelis Tromp, both admirals of the Netherlands.