Abraham van Riebeeck (; 18 October 1653 – 17 November 1713) was a

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

with the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...

and the

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies (, ) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese forces between 1942 and 1945, followed by the ...

from 1709 to 1713.

Biography

Abraham van Riebeeck was born on 18 October 1653 in the

Dutch Cape Colony The Cape of Good Hope () was a Dutch United East India Company (VOC) supplystation in Southern Africa, centered on the Cape of Good Hope, from where it derived its name. The original supply station and the successive states that the area was ...

(present-day

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

). His father was

Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator, ambassador and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April ...

, commander of the Cape, and his mother was Maria van Riebeeck. When his father moved to Batavia in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

(present-day

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

) in 1662, he sent Van Riebeeck and his brother to Holland. He studied law at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

from 1673 to 1676.Riebeeck, Mr. Abraham van
'' Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek'', 1924; retrieved 17 January 2015. After his studies, he became a

with the

and travelled on the ship ''De Vrijheyt'' to Batavia, where he arrived 1677. He married Elisabeth van Oosten in 1678. They had six children, Johanna Maria (1679–1759), Johannes (1691–1735), Elisabeth (1693–1723), and three others who died in their childhood. He was

from 1709 until his death in 1713. He was a keen explorer, who undertook several smaller and a few larger voyages in the Indies. In 1712, he managed to land in Palabuhanratu and grow coffee plants with success.

Death

After he became the first person to reach the summit of Tangkuban Perahu, Van Riebeeck contracted dysentery on his way home. He was unable to recover from the disease and died on 17 November 1713 in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. File:Elisabeth van Oosten (1660-1714). Echtgenote van Abraham van Riebeeck Rijksmuseum SK-A-812.jpeg, Elisabeth van Oosten, Van Riebeeck's wife File:Elisabeth van Riebeeck (1693-1723). Dochter van Abraham van Riebeeck, echtgenote van Gerard van Oosten (1693-1723) Rijksmuseum SK-A-813.jpeg, Elisabeth van Riebeeck, Van Riebeeck's daughter

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Riebeeck, Abraham Van 1653 births 1713 deaths 18th-century Dutch explorers Dutch merchants R Governors-general of the Dutch East Indies People from Cape Town 18th-century Dutch East Indies people 17th-century Dutch businesspeople 18th-century Dutch businesspeople Infectious disease deaths in Indonesia deaths from dysentery