Nick Clegg

Clegg in 2009, photo By Nick-Clegg [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Birth Name: Nicholas William Peter Clegg

Place of Birth: Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England, U.K.

Date of Birth: 7 January, 1967

Ethnicity:
*paternal grandfather – English
*paternal grandmother – German, Ukrainian, Russian, smaller amounts of Polish
*mother – Dutch, as well as remote German

Nick Clegg is a British politician and media executive. He was Leader of the Liberal Democrats, from 18 December, 2007 to 16 July, 2015, and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Lord President of the Council, both, from 12 May, 2010 to 8 May, 2015. He was also a Member of the European Parliament for East Midlands, from 10 June, 1999 to 10 June, 2004, and Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam, from 5 May, 2005 to 3 May, 2017.

He is the son of Eulalie Hermance (van den Wall Bake) and Nicholas P. Clegg (Nicholas Peter Clegg), who was chairman of United Trust Bank, and a managing trustee and chairman of the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation. Nick’s father is of English descent on his own father’s side, and of German, Ukrainian, Russian, and smaller amounts of Polish, descent, on his own mother’s. Nick’s mother was born in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, to Dutch parents. She was imprisoned at a concentration camp by the Japanese during WWII.

He is married to international trade lawyer Miriam González Durántez, Lady Clegg, with whom he has three children. Miriam was born in Olmedo, Valladolid, Spain; she is vice chair of UBS Europe, and the founder of Inspiring Girls. Her father was Spanish politician José Antonio González Caviedes.

Nick’s paternal grandfather was Hugh Anthony Clegg (the son of The Rev. John Clegg and Gertrude Wilson). Hugh was born in St Ives, Huntingdonshire, England. The Rev. John was the son of Simeon Clegg and Mary Brooke. Gertrude was the daughter of John Wilson and Jane Short.

Nick’s paternal grandmother was Baroness Kira von Engelhardt (the daughter of Arthur von Engelhardt, Baron of Smolensk, and of Alexandra Ignatievna “Alla” Zakrevskaya/Moullen). Baroness Kira was born in Russia, and came to England in the 1920s, after the Russian Revolution. Nick’s great-grandfather Arthur was born in Ryazan, Russia, and was an aristocrat, of German ancestry. His family had lived in Russia for many generations, and became Russian nobility. Nick’s great-grandmother Alexandra was born in Kharkov, the daughter of Ignatiy/Ignaty Platonovich Zakrevsky, who was Attorney-General of the Imperial Russian senate; and of Maria Nikolayevna Boreisha. Her family was of Ukrainian, Russian, and smaller amounts of Polish, ancestry, and were part of the Count and Noble houses. Her family’s surnames included Zakrevsky, Boreisha, Zaslavsky, Pustovoyt, Razumovsky, Kochubey, Lizogub, Baranov, Demeshko, Apostol, Skoropadsky, Doroshenko, Mazepa, Zelenskiy, and Iskritskiy.

Nick’s maternal grandfather was Herman Willem Alexander “Hemmy” van den Wall Bake (the son of Herman Adriaan van den Wall Bake and Eulelia Caroline Utermark). Nick’s grandfather Herman was born in Soerabaja, Indonesia. Nick’s great-grandfather Herman was born in Amersfoort, the son of Herman Willem Alexander van den Wall Bake and Cornelia Geertruida Kraijenhoff van de Leur. Eulelia was born in Malang, East Java, the daughter of Johann Friedrich Daniël Utermark and Maria Eulalie/Eulalia van Nispen. Nick’s great-great-great-great-grandfather was philologist and critic John Bake.

Nick’s maternal grandmother was Louise Hillegonde van Dorp (the daughter of Dr. Willem Anne van Dorp and Charlotte Wilhelmina Gericke). Louise was born in Naarden, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. Willem was born in Amsterdam, the son of Willem Anne van Dorp and Henriette Geertruida Holtzman. Charlotte was born in Blitar, Java, Indonesia, the daughter of Willem Fredrik Lodewijk Gericke and Hillegonda Wilhelmina Kehrer.

Each of Nick’s grandparents was born in a different country, something that is fairly rare. Actors Remy Auberjonois, Hart Bochner, Raymond Cham, Jr., Noah Emmerich, Lily James, Stephen Lang, Jessica Lange, Logan Lerman, Robert Morley, Brett Pierce, Ben Rosenfield, Andy Samberg, and Wallace Shawn, musicians Tom Cochrane, Paula Cole, Alex Pall, and Jeff Stinco, politician Ricardo Maduro, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, are others whose grandparents were born in four individual countries.

Sources: Family history of Nick Clegg – https://www.telegraph.co.uk

Genealogies of Nick Clegg – https://www.geni.com
https://www.thepeerage.com