A Dictionary of Dutchness

Provo

This Dutch counter-culture movement was founded in 1965 by anarchist Rob Stolk, left-wing intellectual Roel van Duijn and anti-smoking activist Robert Jasper Grootveld. The Provos made a name for themselves with so-called Saturday night ‘happenings’ against commercialisation which were staged around the statue ’t Lieverdje, a gift to the city of Amsterdam from a cigarette manufacturer. The movement enjoyed their moment of world fame when a member threw a smoke bomb during the wedding procession of princess Beatrix and prince Claus in 1966. The Provo movement was disbanded in 1967.