Constantijn Theodoor, Count van Lynden van Sandenburg, (24 February 1826 – 18 November 1885) was a Dutch politician who served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers (prime minister) of the Netherlands between 1879 and 1883.
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Early life
Lynden van Sandenburg was born in Utrecht on 24 February 1826. He registered to study Law at Utrecht University on 29 March 1844, and obtained a doctorate on 10 October 1848 with a dissertation entitled An matrimonio Ducis de Montpensier pax Rheno-Trajectina violata dici possit.
Career
He trained as a lawyer before entering politics. He served on the Provincial Council of Utrecht for the district of Amerongen from 1860, and was elected to the House of Representatives in the district of Arnhem in 1866. In the House, he sided with the antirevolutionaries and Christian historicals, and concerned himself with various topics, including justice, agriculture, colonial affairs and education. Van Lynden van Sandenburg resigned his seats in January 1868, when he was appointed Minister of Reformed and Other Worship in the Van Zuylen van Nijevelt cabinet. He returned to the House representing the district of Tiel the following year. He went on to take the position of Minister of Justice between 1874 and 1877 in the Heemskerk–Van Lynden van Sandenburg cabinet. In this capacity, he reorganised the judiciary, limiting the number of courts.
Van Lynden van Sandenburg took office as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Council of Ministers in the Van Lynden van Sandenburg cabinet on 20 August 1879. Following Simon Vissering's resignation on 13 June 1881, Van Lynden van Sandenburg was appointed Minister of Finance, and he resigned as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 15 September of that year. In 1882, he proposed several tax reforms, but his bills were never adopted.
After the cabinet's resignation on 23 April 1883, Van Lynden van Sandenburg was granted the honorary title Minister of State, and was elected to the Senate representing the province of Utrecht. He served in the Senate until 8 November 1885, and died five days later in Sandenburg Castle in Langbroek.
Private life
As a member of the ancient Dutch noble Lynden family, Lynden van Sandenburg was born a baron, but was elevated to count in 1882, with the right of succession to this title for all his legitimate, male-line descendants. He died in Langbroek in 1885.