Pierre Cuypers

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Notable

Dutch architect, sculptor and conservator of monuments. Cuypers designed characteristic buildings like the Amsterdam Central Station (1881–1889), the Rijksmuseum (1876–1885) and more than hundred neo-Gothic churches of which seventy were actually built. He also restored a large number of monumental buildings that would otherwise have been destroyed. Cuypers was born in the Catholic city Roermond as the ninth and last child of church painter Joannes Hubertus Cuypers (b. 3 Nov 1769, Roermond) and Maria Joanna Bex (b. 18 Febr 1781, Schinveld). Being a bright student he was awarded a scholarship by the city Roermond that allowed him to study on instead of working. In 1844 he moved to Antwerp to study architecture at the Royal art academy. His teachers Frans Andries Durlet, Frans Stoop and Ferdinand Berckmans were neo-Gothic architects. In 1849 he graduated with the design of a neo-gothic church and came back in triumph to Roermond with a Prix d'Excellence. In 1851 Cuypers became city architect of Roermond. His first church design was built in Oeffelt (1853-1854). Seventy churches would follow. In 1865 he moved to Amsterdam. His fame as an architect and conservator grew. He took residence in an house on the Vondelstraat 77-79 located in the Vondel quarter that he had partially designed including the Vondelkerk. In 1870 he became Dombaumeister in Mainz. Other international assignments would follow. He travelled a lot. In 1876 his neo-Gothic design for the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam was elected. The construction started 1 Oct. 1876 and on 13 July 1885 the museum was opened. Cuypers was honoured during his lifetime with honorary doctorates from Utrecht University (Letters) and Delft Technical University. He became a member of the Ecclesiological Society in London and the German Kunst Gewerbe Verein. In 1894 Cuypers turned back to Roermond, where he would remain active in local politics untill his death on 3 March 1921 at age 93. On his burial the Dutch prime minister Ruys de Beerenbrouck held an eulogy . Personal life During his study in Belgium he met Rosalia Vandevin (b. 7 Dec 1825, Antwerp). They married in 26 Nov. 1850 in Antwerp. They got two daughers, but the youngest daughter Anna Rosalia (20 nov 1854) died at age 6 months on 6 June 1855. His first wife died at age 29 of tuberculosis at 7 November 1855 in Roermond. 1 March 1859 he remarries Antoinette Cathérine Thérèse Alberdingk Thijm (b. 15 March 1829, Amsterdam) in Amsterdam. He got six children from her of which the first died 22 July 1860 on his birth day. His second wife died 7 Jan 1898 a age 68 at Roermond. His son Jos Cuypers (10 June 1861-1949) and grandson Pierre Cuypers jr. (11 July 1891-1982) also became architects. Link to Wikipidia biography