greerde, heeft in 1982 het contact met het provinciaal
bestuur van Zeeland gelegd en dat heeft geleid tot het
tweejaarlijks evenement dat Zeeland internationale
faam heeft bezorgd. Niet alleen vanwege het kaliber
van de laureaten, maar ook omdat de verbonden
heid tussen de Roosevelt familie en het Huis van
Oranje bij deze uitreikingsplechtigheden zicht
baar in stand bleef: bijvoorbeeld door de aan
wezigheid van Franklin D. Roosevelt, jr., David
Roosevelt en Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ener
zijds en van prinses Juliana, prinses Margriet,
koningin Beatrix, kroonprins Willem-
Alexander en prinses Maxima anderzijds.
Speciaal voor de logistieke organisatie van
de uitreiking in Middelburg heeft het provin
ciebestuur van Zeeland in 1984 de Roosevelt
Stichting opgericht waarvan de Commissaris
van de Koningin voorzitter is. Deze stichting heeft
in de loop der jaren met succes de provinciebij dra
gen voor dit evenement weten aan te vullen met par
ticuliere donaties en is er steeds beter in geslaagd
de aandacht van de media in binnen- en buitenland
voor deze awardsuitreiking te krijgen en om Zeeuwse
known as The Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt
Institute. In particular, the former president and now
chair emeritus of this New York based organization,
Ambassador William J. Vandenheuvel, whose father
emigrated in 1923 from Breskens in Zeeland to the
United States, laid the contacts in 1982 with the
provincial government of Zeeland, which resulted in
the bi-annual awards ceremony coming to Zeeland.
Not just the caliber of the laureates, but also the alli
ance between the Roosevelt family and the House of
Orange have ensured that the awards ceremony has
secured a place in the public eye. Guests to the cer
emony have included Franklin D. Roosevelt, jr., David
Roosevelt and Anna Eleanor Roosevelt on the one
hand and Princess Juliana, Princess Margriet, Queen
Beatrix, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess
Maxima on the other.
In 1984 the provincial government of Zeeland
established the Roosevelt Foundation especially
for the logistical organization of the ceremony in
Middelburg. The Chair of the Foundation is the
Queen's Commissioner. This foundation has, over the
years, successfully supplemented the province's con
tributions for this event with private donations and is
increasingly successful in attracting the attention of
both the national and foreign media for the awards
ceremony, as well as mobilizing Zeeland institutions
and organizations for so-called side events around
the presentation. As a result, a broad support for the
Middelburg ceremony exists. Since 1984 the speeches
given during the prize-giving have been published in
book form by the Roosevelt Study Center.
The laureates
The list of names of the laureates who have received
a Four Freedoms Award in Middelburg since 1982
reads like a Who's Who of the world. The list is avail
able on the RSC website and has also been recorded
for posterity on the wall of the Kapittelzaal, the read
ing room of the Roosevelt Study Center in Middelburg
Abbey. Including the recipients of the 2008 Roosevelt
medal, the number of laureates amounts to more
than 70. While it's not possible to take stock of
them all here, and without wishing to reduce the
considerable merit of the others, some of the most
eye-catching laureates in the period 1982-2006 are:
14 Zeeuws Tijdschrift 2008 5-6
