Joost van den Vondel (17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet and playwright.

Around the 1850's he was one of Hollands most poular artists, only second from Rembrandt, but nowadays his glory declined to almost null.

In 1867 a statue of Vondel was placed in the park, that until that day was called Rij- en Wandelpark (Ride and promenading park). From that day the name Vondelspark and later Vondelpark was used by the visitors, and only years later this name became official name for the park.