Geurt van Beuningen

Around 1600, Van Beuningen moved from the Kalverstraat to the Sint Antoniesbreestraat, where he lived next-door to Pieter Lastman, who would teach Rembrandt.

The son of a cheese-dealer, Van Beuningen was at first a merchant in dairy products, but became one of the biggest shareholder in the Dutch East India Company.

In 1623 Van Beuningen bought up all the pepper being shipped to Amsterdam, something which proved highly profitable was later repeated by others.

Mayor Reynier Pauw, an anti-Remonstrant and one of the judges of Johan van Oldenbarneveldt, had not reckoned with another opponent and was stunned to see him walking in.

Dirk van Beuningen was active in the grain trade between Muscovy and the Levant, together with his brother-in-law Reynier Reaal.

Painting by Jan Tengnagel (1613) of a rot (section) of 17 members of the Handboogdoelen civic guard under the command of Geurt van Beuningen, who is shown second from left on the bottom row.