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Maurits "Maup" Caransa (1916-2009) was a Dutch businessman who became one of the most important real estate developers in post-World War II Amsterdam. His wealth made him a target for criminals: Caransa was the first well-known Dutch personality to be kidnapped for ransom. Caransa owned a great many important buildings in Amsterdam and built a few of them as well, including the Maupoleum (now demolished, and at the time considered the ugliest building in the country) and the Caransa Hotel (still standing on the Rembrandtplein). He also exerted a great influence on the Amsterdam football club AFC Ajax, and supported the team and its players with his money.

Biography

Caransa was born on 5 January 1916 into a family of Sephardi Jews in Amsterdam. He grew up poor, and had his first paying job at age 5. At age 16, according to a well-known story, he bought a wrecked car and sold it part by part for significant profit.

World War II

During World War II, according to Frank Bovenkerk, emeritus professor of criminal science in Utrecht, Caransa, angered by the violence of the NSB which beat up Jewish citizens, joined one of the many knokploegen, "assault groups" that in turn beat up on NSB members and especially members of the WA, the NSB's violent bodyguard. After the war, Caransa refused to speak of these matters, saying it brought back too many painful memories. The killing of WA-man Koot by a Jewish knokploeg was the direct impetus for the raids organized by the Germans, which in turn led to the February strike of 1941, but before that strike began Caransa's family, including his brother Joel who lived nextdoor from him, had already been arrested. His sister managed to hide, and Maup himself reported at Westerbork transit camp after his parents were taken there. He spent a week with them but was let go, while his parents were deported to Germany. His parents and his three brothers died in Nazi concentration camps. He married a Catholic woman in 1941 and in combination with what newspapers described afterward as his supposedly non-Jewish appearance (he had blond, almost red hair and light-blue eyes) this enabled him to survive World War II), living in Amsterdam's Jodenbuurt, its Jewish quarter; Maup and his sister Femma were the family's only survivors.

After the war: trade and real estate

After the war he began a career as a trader (what in Dutch is called "dumphandel"), selling leftover material from British and US forces. The money he made was invested in real estate, and when the dump trade fell flat he continued as a real estate developer, becoming a millionaire. He owned the Schiller Hotel, much of the Rembrandtplein (where he had Piet Zanstra build the Caransa Hotel), and had bought and sold the Amstel Hotel and the Hotel Americain--he owned almost all of the luxury hotels in the city. One of his treasured acquisitions was De Doelen, another luxury hotel; as a child, when he couldn't fall asleep, his mother would tell him to "go sleep in De Doelen".

Toward the end of his life he had acquired many of the properties in the Jodenbuurt. With his money the Maupoleum was built (also by Piet Zanstra); reportedly the ugliest building in the city or even the country, it was originally named the Burgemeester Tellegenhuis but came to be called for Caransa, the name a combination of "Maup" and "mausoleum".

Ajax

In the 1960s and 1970s Caransa was involved with the Amsterdam football club Ajax. He was a close friend of Ajax chairman Jaap van Praag, was often seen in the Ajax offices, and frequently traveled with the team, which he most likely supported financially—at the time Ajax was not as popular or rich as it later became. He was asked to take a financial interest in the team as well but apparently said there were too many amateurs in the the organization. During Van Praag's chairmanship, however, Ajax grew and developed a reputation for success and wealth, for which Caransa's money, which supported the team and its players, was party responsible. On occasion, the club was referred to as "Caransajax".

Kidnapping

In 1977, he was kidnapped on leaving the Continental Club (after his customary weekly game of bridge) and held for five days; he was released after a reported payment of ten million guilders in ransom. The kidnappers were never found. He was the first well-known Dutch person to be held for ransom. During his captivity, though, Caransa continued to negotiate: his kidnappers wanted 40 million, and he offered 300,000. The ten million was paid with marked money; by 2009, about a half a million guilders worth had been recuperated. An Italian member of the mafia was caught after depositing 480 of the 1000-guilder notes, but refused to talk.

His real estate company, the Caransa Group, is run by two of his grandchildren; the year before his death he ranked 186 on the list of the 500 richest Dutch people, with an estimated 161 million euro. He died in Vinkeveen, on 6 August 2009.

References

1. Willems, Maartje (8 August 2009). "Miljonair Maurits 'Maup' Caransa (93) overleden". Elsevier (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 September 2014.
2. ^ Verkerk, Corrie (8 August 2009). "Ten Slotte Maup Caransa 1916 - 2009". Het Parool (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 September 2014.
3. Bovenkerk, Frank (23 October 2009). "Caransa" (in Dutch). Website voor de Politie. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
4. Pelt, Wim (February 2006). "Van autosloper tot vastgoedtycoon: Amsterdamse ondernemer Maup Caransa". Ons Amsterdam. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
5. ^ "Caransa dwong geluk af". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 8 August 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
6. ^ Meeus, Jan (8 August 2009). "Maurits Caransa (1916-2009)". NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 September 2014.
7. Kuper, Simon (2012). Ajax, the Dutch, the War: The Strange Tale of Soccer During Europe's Darkest Hour. Nation Books. p. 193. ISBN 9781568587233.
8. Vooren, Jurryt van de (14 August 2009). "Ajax was voor Maup Caransa als een goede familie: Amsterdammer speelde belangrijke rol bij voetbalclub" (in Dutch). Retrieved 7 September 2014.
9. Goldblatt, David (2008). The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer. Riverhead Books. p. 466. ISBN 9781594482960.
10. "De ontvoering van Maup Caransa" (in Dutch). Geschiedenis 24. 8 August 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
11. "Slechts half miljoen van het losgeld achterhaald". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). 8 August 2009. Retrieved 7 September 2014.

External links

• Caransa Group

• 1916 births
• 2009 deaths