Cornelis Lely

Cornelis Lely was a Dutch politician of the Liberal Union and civil engineer who was Minister of Water Management and Governor of Suriname. The designer of Afsluitdijk, the largest dam and causeway at its time of construction, in 1932, he oversaw the Zuiderzee Works as Minister, turning the Zuiderzee into a lake and making possible the conversion of a vast area of former seabed into dry land. His plan deeply transposed and influenced the current geography of the Netherlands. Lelystad, the capital of the province of Flevoland, is named after him.

Early life

Cornelis Lely was born on 23 September 1854 in Amsterdam, son of an oilseed trader. Lely went to the Hogere Burgerschool. He later studied at the Polytechnic School of Delft and graduated as civil engineer in 1875.

Between 1886 and 1891, Lely led the technical research team that explored the possibility, later approved by a State Commission, of enclosing the Zuiderzee. The Dutch parliament passed the law creating the Zuiderzee Works on 14 June 1918, using Lely's plan. He served three times as Minister of Transport and Water Management and in this role was hugely influential in advocating the implementation of his own plans. The scheme was finally approved and realised after severe flooding along the shores of the Zuiderzee in 1916.
In 1898 as minister he implemented a law on local railroads and tramways, which played a significant role in the development of the Dutch countryside.
In 1895 Lely became member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Lely was governor of Suriname from 1902 to 1905. In Suriname, he achieved the initiation and construction of the Lawa Railway from Paramaribo to Benzdorp.

The city of Lelystad, situated in the Eastern Flevoland polder and capital of Flevoland province, was named after him. The flags of the province and of the city are both adorned with a white fleur-de-lys to note his contribution.
In the city of Amsterdam the "Cornelis Lelylaan", a major thoroughfare, is named after him and the Amsterdam Lelylaan station, one of the city's main railway stations, is situated on this road.
In 1905, the Surinamese village of Kofi Djompo was renamed Lelydorp in his honour; Lely having led the construction of a new railway from Paramaribo that ran through the area. Most of the railway has now gone, but Lelydorp survives and is now the capital of Wanica District. It lies on the road from Paramaribo to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport.
A statue of Lely stands on the western point of the Afsluitdijk. It was sculpted by Mari Andriessen and dedicated on 23 September 1954, the 100th anniversary of Lely's birth. A replica of this statue stands in the center of Lelystad, on a tower of basalt blocks, designed by. In Lelystad's city hall is a statue of Lely made by Piet Esser.

University	Field	Country	Date	Comment
Institute of Technology	Hydraulic engineering	Netherlands	8 January 1907