David van Royen

David van Royen (Leiden, 5 April 1699 – Leiden, 22 February 1764) was a Dutch lawyer, administrator and university librarian. He was the father of the well-known medical doctor and botanist David van Royen.

Family and education Van Royen, a scion of the patrician Van Roijen (nl) family, was born the son of Jan Davidsz. van Royen and Cornelia van Groenendijck. Young Van Royen read law at Leiden and obtained a Doctor's degree on 5 February 1720 with the thesis Dissertatio juridica inauguralis, de finibus regundis. In 1725 he married Catharina van den Bergh.

Career Initially he worked as a griffier, later, from 1725 up to 1753, he was secretary of the curatoren of Leiden University. In 1758 he started secretary of the Dutch government High council Raad van State.

When Van Royen was Leiden University librarian for four months in 1741, he composed an extensive report on the history and condition of Leiden University Library. He took care to procure a safe storage for the antiquarian collection of Gerard van Papenbroek, starting a collection of Greek and Roman sculpture, one of the sources of the later Rijksmuseum van Oudheden at Leiden.

Publications His publications include: