User:Dreeve4958/Paulina Maria Bisdom van Vliet

Paulina Maria Bisdom van Vliet (30 June 1840 - 1 June 1923) was the last member of a wealthy Dutch patrician family and is notable for her philanthropy and especially for the bequest of her family home and estate to the community of Haastrecht in the Dutch province of South Holland. As a condition of her bequest, her principal residence has remained unaltered since her death and is open as a museum.

Biography
Paulina Bisdom van Vliet was born on 30 June 1840 in the village of Haastrecht, South Holland to Marcellus Bisdom van Vliet (1806 - 1877) and Maria Elizabeth Knogh (1803 - 1871). Marcellus' only child she had two half-brothers and a half-sister from her mother's earlier marriage to Abraham Ledeboer. Paulina married Johan Jacob le F&egrave;vre de Montigny (1840 - 1881) on the 20 August 1869 after a short courtship. The marriage had no issue. The couple lived at first in Den Haag, returning to Haastrecht on the death of Paulina's father at which point Johan assumed the position of mayor, a role which had been occupied by Paulina's father for over 50 years. After her husbands death Paulina lived alone for almost half a century, making only minimal changes to the family home and estate.