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Editor-in-chief of 'Het Vaderland', forty years member of the Lower House, Minister of the Interior and honorary doctor of the Groningsche Hoogeschool: there is no escaping the fact that Hendrik Goeman Borgesius (1847-1917) had everything to his name. And these are only the positions this versatile statesman held during his lifetime. The actions and vision of this Liberal are characterised by concepts such as simplicity, labour and community spirit, compulsory education and journalism. All these things are reflected in the monument that was erected for him in 1924, seven years after his death. The sculptor did not display any of his many slips of the tongue. For example, as President of the Lower House, Goeman Borgesius spoke of "cold-blooded suffrage" when he meant "women's suffrage".
Jan Altorf, one of the great names in architectural sculpture around 1900, was commissioned by the 'Committee for the Creation of a Monument to the Memory of Goeman Borgesius' to make a fitting memorial. In keeping with the spirit of the time, this was a monument with a very similar portrait medallion and a series of texts underlining the merits of the deceased. Whereas Altorf's animal sculptures are strongly integrated into the architecture, on Prins Hendrikplein the sculptor made a freestanding monument. The formal language, however, is characteristic of Altorf: the use of bevelled corners and a neat finish. Moreover, the memorial has the same monumentality as his animal sculptures and the back, as if it were placed against a building, has been left completely empty.
That Goeman Borgesius was given a memorial on this very square is not entirely coincidental. For although the Committee would have preferred a location close to the Binnenhof, it eventually came to an agreement with the municipality on the Prins Hendrikplein. The statesman had lived there for several years.