Willem Johan Herman (Pim) Mulier (March 10, 1865 – April 12, 1954) was one of the leading figures in sporting history of the Netherlands.
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Pim Mulier was born on March 10, 1865, on the Aylva State estate in the Frisian village of Witmarsum. His father, Tjepke Mulier, was one of the last grietmannen[1] of the province. Mulier's mother was Roelina Johanna Alberda. His parental ancestors hailed from Roubaix in France, where they carried the name Oste de Muliers. The family moved to Haarlem in 1867.
Mulier became interested in sport at a young age. In 1878, he helped organise the first athletics competition in the Netherlands at the Rooswijck estate in Velsen. The competition consisted of two events: the 100m sprint and a 2km cross-country run. Both events were won by Mulier.
In his hometown of Haarlem, Mulier taught his friends the rules of football and, at the age of 14, established the first Dutch football club, the Haarlemse FC (he would later become chairman as the club grew). The team originally followed the rules of rugby union. There were several trees in the centre of the pitch which the players used to tactical advantage. The team later changed its rules to those of association football, about which Mulier wrote: "The first annual accounts ended our game of rugby. The [parents] asked for an explanation of the accounts. We presumably answered in our local dialect: 'If they grab you, they're allowed to grab you where they can.' [...] So the rugby was doomed, and we switched to association in 1883."
While studying in England, Mulier also discovered sports such as field hockey, bandy and tennis, which he helped introduce in the Netherlands. He also established the first Dutch lawn tennis club, the Haarlemse Lawn-Tennis Club, in 1884. While continuing studies in Lübeck, Mulier organised the first football match in Germany, thereafter visiting Sweden where he was taught to ski and hunt by the Sami people.
Back in the Netherlands, Mulier devoted more time to athletics. He became Dutch national champion in the 350m in 1886, and won the mile of Ostend in 1888. Mulier also wrote for the sports magazine Het Sportblad, established in 1888. He wrote books about athletics, football, winter sports, cricket and angling.
In 1890, Mulier made a skating trip to each of the eleven cities of Friesland. This took him a total of 12 hours and 55 minutes. His notes of this trip were the basis of the Eleven-cities Tour, of which the first was held in 1909. Contestants who finish the Tour receive a medal, the Elfstedenkruisje, which was designed by Mulier.
Mulier also initiated the establishment of the Netherlands Football and Athletics Association, on December 8, 1889. He became the first chairman of the organisation. Mulier was furthermore the impetus for splitting off the athletics branch into a separate association in 1896. He also played a major role in the establishment of the Netherlands Olympic Committee in 1912.
Pim Mulier was married twice. He married Cornelia Constance van Duin on December 18, 1895. The couple got divorced on April 20, 1922. A year later, on May 29, 1923, Pim Mulier married Maria Louise Haitsma. He had no children.
Mulier died in The Hague on April 12, 1954, aged 89.
Mulier was awarded as an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau, and a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion. He was also an honorary member of the Frisian handball association, the Netherlands Field Hockey Association, the Netherlands Ice Hockey Association, the Swedish Football Association and the Belgian Football Association. He was awarded several foreign decorations as well, and became an honorary citizen of the municipality of Wûnseradiel on June 28, 1950.
Many sports-related organisations in the Netherlands have been named after Pim Mulier. Both the Frisian handball club and the football club in Witmarsum carry Mulier's name. The baseball stadium in Haarlem was named after him, as well as the Pim Mulier Open tennis tournament.
Mulier was also known as an art collector, an interior designer, a painter, an illustrator, a journalist, a linguist and a fishery expert.