KUYPER, ABRAHAM. - Dutch Reformed theologian and statesman, b. at Maasluis on 29 Oct. 1837, d. at The Hague on 8 Nov. 1920. After completing his studies at Leiden, he served as pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church at Breda. He entered politics in 1874, leading the Anti-Revolutionary Party, which aimed at restoring Calvinist principles in the conduct of the state.
Twice elected to the Second Chamber (in 1874 and 1894), he became Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior in 1901, remaining in office until 1905. In 1913 he was appointed to the First Chamber. A leading advocate of modern Dutch Neo-Calvinism, he developed its doctrines in various writings and founded a Calvinist university in Amsterdam, where he himself taught. Among his works are: *Het Calvinisme oorsprong en Waarborg onzer constitutioneale Vrijheden* (Amsterdam 1874); *Tractaat van der Reformatie der Kirken* (ibid. 1884); *Encyclopædia theologiae* (3 vols., ibid. 1894); *Het Calvinisme* (ibid. 1898–99); *Ons Program* (ibid. 1907).
Kwangghow: V. canton.