Willem Albert Scholten

Willem Albert Scholten (6 October 1819 – 1 May 1895) was a Dutch industrialist and landowner. He established the potato starch factory Eureka in Foxhol which laid the foundation of an industrial empire. Scholten would own 24 factories in Europe. He went to school until the age of 14. In 1836, he worked at a paint factory in Amsterdam, and wanted to establish his own factory. Potato starch factories already existed. The earliest was built in Gouda in 1819, however all were small and limited to a specific purpose. In 1837, at the age of 17 he started experimenting at his uncle's farm, and in 1839 built a factory in Warnsveld which burned down in 1840. In 1879, after disappointing results, he resigned from the company claiming that he was too old. However, he did invest in other shipping lines.

In 1873, he was asked to participate in a peat exploitation project in Emmer-Compascuum in Drenthe. He would end up acquiring the Smeulveen, and the Barger-Oosterveen. In 1903, his son Jan Evert renamed Smeulveen and the village its contained Klazienaveen after his mother. It is one of the two villages in the Netherlands named after a non-royal woman.

In 1882, Scholten built a residential home on the , the main square, opposite the City Hall. On 6 October 1889, his 70th birthday, he donated a children's hospital to the city of Groningen. however he preferred a more central location befitting a man of his stature. Three houses on the caught his eye, however the residents refused to sell their houses. The owners were elderly, and Scholten patiently waited for their deaths, and acquired the houses from their heirs. It was located directly opposite the City Hall. The building was later demolished.

Honours

Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Knight of the Legion of Honour Knight of the Order of Saint Stanislaus