SCHAEPMAN, HERMAN (HERMANUS JOHANNES ALOYSIUS MARIA)

(1844–1903)

Priest and statesman. From 1870 until 1880, Schaepman was a professor at a seminary; from 1872, he also served as editor in chief of the Roman Catholic daily De Tijd and other papers. In 1880, he was elected to Parliament, where he presented a program for his Catholic political friends. Together with Protestantleader Abra ham Kuyper, he strove for an extension of the vote. In 1888, the first “coalition” cabinet of the religiousgroups was formed. Schaepman was instrumental in creating the Rooms-Katholieke Staats Partij (RKSP, Roman Catholic State Party) based on the ideas set out in the papal en cyclical Rerum Novarum(1891).