Jacob van Gelderen was the son of Michel van Gelderen and Frederika Fedder a family with four children: Jacob self, Alfred, Emma and Willem. On 14 June 1915 in Amsterdam Jacob was married to Alexandrina de Vries. She was the daughter of Jacob de Vries and Klaartje Mok. The couple had three children: Margreet, Johan and one child who presumably lived in the Dutch East-Indies during the war.
Under the pressure of the circumstances the parents and the two children that lived with them committed suicide on 14 may 1940.
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Jacob van Gelderen got his education in national economy and statistics at business school. He joined the SDAP and held various positions in politics. In 1919, Jacob van Gelderen was sent to the Dutch East Indies to set up the Central Statistical Office in Batavia, where he became the first manager. He was a member of the Indonesian Social-Democratic Party and was elected president in 1928. In that same year, the Law College in Batavia appointed him as a full professor. During his lecture, he criticized the ideas of Karl Marx. He believed that Marx underestimated the importance of agriculture. Back in the Netherlands (1933) Jacob van Gelderen became office manager of the crisis unit of the Department of the Colonies. A few years later he became professor in sociology at the Law Faculty of the University of Utrecht. In 1937 Jacob van Gelderen was elected for the SDAP in the Second Chamber. In view of the growing tensions in Europe in 1939 he wrote the book De totalitaire staten contra de wereldhuishouding. Shortly after the German invasion he told a colleague: "It's over." Jacob van Gelderen committed suicide together with his wife and children. The police report states: ‘Found deceased’.
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For a biography with picture see: R. Fuks-Mansfeld (red.), Joden in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw. Een biografisch woordenboek (Utrecht 2007) 99-100
Jacob van Gelderen is also mentioned in: B. Sajet, Een leven lang Ben Sajet. Verteld aan Hans Fels (Baarn 1977) 122