Unofficially the SGAV was founded in
1996. In the Spring of 1996 there was a special exhibition of the world famous 17th
century painter Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) at the Mauritshuis in The Hague and
later in Washington DC. A hundred people with the Vermeer surname were invited
to visit the museum before the actual opening. A handful of people appeared to
share the same passion: family research or genealogy.
All research results were put together and
combined. This was the starting point for our
database.
In October 1996 at the home of initiator Sietse
Vermeer in Arnhem an informal meeting took place.
There it was decided to start a family
organisation in the form of a foundation. We see
these events in 1996 as the beginning of our
foundation, although the official founding took
place by notary deed in January 1997.
In 2006 we celebrated our 10th anniversary with a
meeting at
Bronbeek in Arnhem.
Goals and achievements.
Our goal is to gather information about all
Vermeer's that ever lived all around the world.
This also includes the surnames Losecaat Vermeer,
de Bruin Vermeer, Vermehr and Rhemrev (backwards). From there we
compile familytrees, family histories and personal
stories. We also collect pictures, birth
announcements, wedding announcement, obituaries and
other interesting documents.
All people with the Vermeer surname that descent
from one particular ancestor are considered as one
family. There are about 120 different familygroups
out of about 12 families (see
genealogy and
history pages). At this moment our database contains records of 120,000
people who have lived from the 13th century till the
present day.
Twice a year we publish a magazine called 'Alweer
een Vermeer' (Vermeer Again) with genealogical
surveys, the latest news and background stories.
About every two year we set up a meeting for all
people with the Vermeer surname and their
relatives.
