Jan Gerard Wichers (15 July 1745 – 3 October 1808) was a military officer and lawyer. He served as Governor of Suriname from 1784 until 1790.

Biography

Wichers was born on 15 July 1745 in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, Dutch Republic. In 1760, he started studying law at the

University of Groningen The University of Groningen (abbreviated as UG; , abbreviated as RUG) is a Public university#Continental Europe, public research university of more than 30,000 students in the city of Groningen (city), Groningen, Netherlands. Founded in 1614, th ...

, and obtained his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

on 15 June 1768. He enlisted in the army. In 1771, Wichers was appointed ''Raad Fiscaal'' (

Attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

) in

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

. In 1775, Jan Wicherides, his only child, was born as a result of an extra-maritial affair with the free negress Adjuba. Jan Wicherides would later become mayor of

Uithoorn Uithoorn () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Population centres The municipality of Uithoorn includes the town of Uithoorn and the village of De Kwakel. ''Map of the municipality of Uithoorn, Ju ...

. On 24 December 1784, Wichers was appointed Governor-General of Suriname. In 1785, he was promoted major general. In 1790, Fort Groningen was built. A city was planned around the fort, however the development of the town remained limited. Wichers wanted to promote a mixed race middle class, because he felt that the Europeans in the colony had little loyalty to Suriname. He had planned, but never executed, to give an award of ƒ100,- for every mixed race child who was

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and ...

. On 15 June 1790, Wichers was succeeded by Jurriaan François de Friderici. He returned to the Netherlands, and became a member of the Council of American Colonies in

the Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. In 1806, he became a member of the

Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde The Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (, , often abbreviated ''MNL'') is a prestigious and exclusive literary society. The MNL was established in Leiden in 1766 and is still located there. At the moment, the society has approximately 1,6 ...

. Wichers died on 3 October 1808 in

Vreeswijk Vreeswijk is a former village and municipality in the Dutch province of Utrecht. The municipality merged with Jutphaas in 1971, and is now the southern half of the town of Nieuwegein. The former village was located on the Lek River, near whe ...

, at the age of 63.

Legacy

In 2012,

RTV Noord RTV Noord is a regional radio and television public broadcaster in Groningen, Netherlands. , its radio programs are broadcast on FM 97.5 MHz. It broadcasts TV and radio programming 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Some content is broadcast ...

aired a documentary about

Groningen, Suriname Groningen is the capital town of the Saramacca District, Suriname. Groningen only began to grow after 1960. Around that time the East-West Link, a road linking Albina via Paramaribo to Nieuw Nickerie was built. This let Groningen become access ...

, the town founded by Jan Wichers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wichers, Jan 1745 births 1808 deaths Governors of Suriname Dutch generals University of Groningen alumni 18th-century Surinamese lawyers People from Groningen (city)