Hans Claessen or Claesz (1562–1623) was an influential

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 ...

from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. He was a

founding member Founding may refer to: * The formation of a corporation, government, or other organization * The laying of a building's foundation * The casting of materials in a mold See also * Foundation (disambiguation) * Incorporation (disambiguation) I ...

and CEO of both the

New Netherland Company New Netherland Company () was a chartered company of Dutch merchants. Following Henry Hudson’s exploration of the east coast of North America on behalf of the Dutch East India Company in 1609, several Dutch merchants sent ships to trade wi ...

and the Greenland Company. Claessen lived at the Keizersgracht 118-120 and is buried in the Nieuwe Kerk on the

Dam Square Dam Square or the Dam () is a town square in Amsterdam, the capital and most populated city of the Netherlands. Its notable buildings and frequent events make it one of the best-known and most important locations in the city and the country. ...

Claessen was involved in the

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

and had commercial interests on the

Bay of Biscay The Bay of Biscay ( ) is a gulf of the northeast Atlantic Ocean located south of the Celtic Sea. It lies along the western coast of France from Point Penmarc'h to the Spanish border, and along the northern coast of Spain, extending westward ...

. He also shipped large quantities of wood from Sweden to Spain, as well as salt from Riga. His organisation, the Hans Claesz Compagnie, had a patent from the

Staten Generaal The States General of the Netherlands ( ) is the supreme bicameral legislature of the Netherlands consisting of the Senate () and the House of Representatives (). Both chambers meet at the Binnenhof in The Hague. The States General originated in ...

to trade near the Hudson area. In August 1613 Hans Claessen had a meeting with Prince Maurits, which in 1614 eventually led to a merger of all the Amsterdam companies into the New Netherlands Company. Hans Claessen had one daughter, Susanna Claessen (1599). She married the

mayor of the Hague Below is a list of mayors of The Hague since it was decided in 1824 that only one mayor at a time would govern the city. List See also * Timeline of The Hague References {{Reflist The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of th ...

Abraham Le Fever Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the covenantal relationship between the Jewish people and God; ...

(1585-1655) who was also one of the leaders of the

contra-remonstrants Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer; 30 January 1563 – 11 January 1641) was a Dutch theologian, a strict Calvinist and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at the Synod ...

. They are among the ancestors of many families in both the former

New Netherlands New Netherland () was a colony of the Dutch Republic located on the East Coast of what is now the United States. The claimed territories extended from the Delmarva Peninsula to Cape Cod. Settlements were established in what became the states ...

colonies and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and of North-American

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

descendants.

References

16th-century Dutch businesspeople 17th-century Dutch businesspeople 1562 births 1623 deaths Burials at the Nieuwe Kerk, Amsterdam Businesspeople from Amsterdam People from New Netherland Dutch merchants {{Netherlands-business-bio-stub