Portrait of Jan Nieuwenhuyzen, Adriaan de Lelie, 1780 - 1806
Jan Nieuwenhuyzen was a bookseller, printer and Mennonite preacher. Together with a few kindred spirits, in 1784 he founded the Maatschappij tot Nut van ’t Algemeen (Society for Public Advancement). The society strove to raise the spiritual and moral level of society, mainly by contributing to the improvement of general education.