# Alfred Haighton

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{{Short description|Dutch businessman (1896–1943)}}
{{Infobox person
| name                      = Alfred Haighton
| image                     = AlfredHaighton.jpg
| alt                       =
| caption                   = Haighton (c.1926)
| birth_name                = Coenraad Alfred Augustus Haighton
| birth_date                = {{birth date|1896|10|26|df=y}}
| birth_place               = [Rotterdam](/source/Rotterdam)
| death_date                = {{death date and age|1943|4|19|1896|10|26|df=y}}
| death_place               = [Beekbergen](/source/Beekbergen)
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| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| citizenship               = [Dutch](/source/Netherlands)
| other_names               = 
| known_for                 = [Fascist](/source/Fascism) politician and collaborator with [Nazism](/source/Nazism)
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| occupation                = Businessman
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| political_party           = ''Verbond van Actualisten'', ''Fascistische Jongeren Bond'', [National Socialist Dutch Workers Party](/source/National_Socialist_Dutch_Workers_Party), ''[Zwart Front](/source/Zwart_Front)''
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}}
'''Coenraad Alfred Augustus Haighton''' (26 October 1896 &ndash; 13 April 1943) was a millionaire businessman and the leader of the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands)' first [fascist](/source/fascist) movement.

==Fascism==
From a privileged background, Haighton was born in [Rotterdam](/source/Rotterdam) and was well educated, studying in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) and producing a thesis on [Arthur Schopenhauer](/source/Arthur_Schopenhauer), although he was also physically disabled for his entire life.<ref name="Rees">[Philip Rees](/source/Philip_Rees), ''[Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890](/source/Biographical_Dictionary_of_the_Extreme_Right_Since_1890)'', Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1990, p. 170</ref> Haighton's father had been a highly successful businessman, making a fortune in particular from his [lottery](/source/lottery) [insurance](/source/insurance) business LOTISICO.<ref name="Rees"/> He died early and as such Alfred Haighton inherited the highly profitable business, allowing him to devote much of his time to politics. He soon became close to [H.A. Sinclair de Rochemont](/source/H.A._Sinclair_de_Rochemont) and in 1924 the two set up the ''[Verbond van Actualisten](/source/Verbond_van_Actualisten)'', a group which looked for inspiration to [Italian fascism](/source/Italian_fascism).<ref name="Rees"/>  The group broke down in 1927 and Haighton then put his money into a journal, ''De Bezem'' and eventually his own movement, the ''Fascistische Jongeren Bond''. This movement was depleted in 1932 when his close ally [Jan Baars](/source/Jan_Baars) broke from him to set up the  [General Dutch Fascist League](/source/General_Dutch_Fascist_League) (ANFB).<ref name="Rees"/>

==Nazism==
Haighton had become a strong [anti-Semite](/source/anti-Semite) and as such led the followers he had left into the [National Socialist Dutch Workers Party](/source/National_Socialist_Dutch_Workers_Party) (NSNAP), although once again his abrasive personality meant that the relationship was not to last.<ref name="Rees2">Rees, p. 171</ref> He dropped out of politics for a spell before joining [Arnold Meijer](/source/Arnold_Meijer)'s [Zwart Front](/source/Zwart_Front), although he declined to join the [National Front](/source/National_Front_(Netherlands)) when this group absorbed the Zwart Front in 1940.<ref name="Rees2"/> Officially a member of the NSNAP again he took little role in active politics and instead concentrated on his anti-Semitic writing and literary pursuits.<ref name="Rees2"/>

==Literature==
In 1938 Haighton purchased the literary journal ''[De Nieuwe Gids](/source/De_Nieuwe_Gids)'', a work that held a high reputation amongst the Dutch artistic set. Under Haighton however the once respected journal became intensely partisan, presenting a highly pro-[Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) line.<ref name="Dewulf"/> Writers such as [Jan Eekhout](/source/Jan_Eekhout), a staunchly pro-Nazi novelist noted for his use of archaic and dialect [Dutch](/source/Dutch_language) words as part of an attempt to construct rustic literature, were featured and widely praised under Haighton.<ref>Egil Törnqvist, ''Europe, The Nordic Countries'', Rodopi, 1998, pp. 193-194</ref>

The Dutch literary establishment reacted negatively to Haighton's stewardship of the magazine, to the point that by 1943 ''De Nieuwe Gids'' had only 98 registered subscribers.<ref name="Dewulf">Jeroen Dewulf, ''Spirit of Resistance: Dutch Clandestine Literature During the Nazi Occupation'', Camden House, 2010, p. 50</ref> Haighton died suddenly in [Beekbergen](/source/Beekbergen) that same year, from a heart attack.<ref name="Rees2"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Dutch fascism}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haighton, Alfred}}
Category:1896 births
Category:1943 deaths
Category:Businesspeople from Rotterdam
Category:20th-century Dutch businesspeople
Category:Dutch collaborators with Nazi Germany
Category:Dutch fascists
Category:Politicians from Rotterdam

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Alfred Haighton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Haighton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Haighton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
