Gerrit de Graeff van Zuid-Polsbroek was a member of the De Graeff – Family from the Dutch Golden Age. De Graeff was "known for his wealth and notorious for his stinginess."
Family
Gerrit was the son of Johan de Graeff and his wife Johanna Hooft. In 1734 he married Maria Elisabeth Sautijn, and in 1739, after his first had died, with Elizabeth Lestevenon. Mattheus Lestevenon, the Dutch ambassador to France, became his brother-in-law. With his first wife he had one child, Johan de Graeff, who died at the age of 19. With his second wife he had six children; Abraham, Pieter and Elisabeth Jacoba de Graeff died young.
Geertruid Joanna de Graeff was first married to Isaac Ernst des H.R. Rijksbaron de Petersen, and in 1790 to Mr. François Jacobvan de Wall.
Gerrit de Graeff II. married in 1765 Christina van Herzeele.
Elisabeth Jacoba de Graeff 1751–1802 married in 1768 Jan des H.r. Rijksbaron De Petersen, the younger brother of Isaac Ernst.
Career, art and lifestyle
In 1732 De Graeff finished his studies at the University of Leiden. In 1736 he became one of the chairmen of the Dutch East Indies Company. One year later he was also appointed as one of the Chairmen of the Dutch West India Company. In 1739 he became a member of the vroedschap, and captain in the schutterij. From 1748 to 1752 he was one of the directors of the Company of Surinam and commissaris in Noorderkwartier. Gerrit de Graeff lived at Herengracht, in a mansion now the Tassenmuseum Hendrikje. In the first half of the 18th century an extensive renovation of the building takes place, particularly of the interiors. In the large period room various ceiling paintings and a mantelpiece with richly carved and gilded ornaments were installed. A richly ornamented chimneypiece in the late Louis XIV style was placed in the small period room. Most of the time he resided at his castle Ilpenstein. He also owned Bronstee, a country estate near Heemstede. De Graeff had a famous art collection, and sold some of the family paintings to an art dealer from Hamburg. William VIII, Landgrave of Hesse-Cassel bought Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph and the Portrait of Andries de Graeff'' The two famous paintings, both by Rembrandt, can be seen in Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel.
