Arie van Deursen

Arie Theodorus van Deursen (23 June 1931 – 21 November 2011) was a Dutch historian whose focus was the early modern period.

He has written several books about daily life in the Dutch Golden Age, religious controversies in the 16th and 17th century (Jacobus Arminius versus Franciscus Gomarus) and the political situation of that period; he wrote biographies of William the Silent and Maurice of Nassau, Prince of Orange, a history of the Vrije Universiteit, a history of the Netherlands (1555–1702), a biography of Michiel de Ruyter and several volumes of collected essays.

As an orthodox Protestant Christian, Van Deursen was heavily involved in polemics about the history of secularization and its consequences.

Van Deursen died in Oegstgeest on 21 November 2011, aged 80.

He was member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.