Isaac Commelin (19 October 1598,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

- 13 January 1676, Amsterdam) was a Dutch historian, a member of the

vroedschap The vroedschap () was the name for the (all male) city council in the early modern Netherlands; the member of such a council was called a ''vroedman'', literally a "wise man". An honorific title of the ''vroedschap'' was the ''vroede vaderen'', ...

and a manager of a charity hospital, providing help to the sick and poor.

Life

Isaac Commelijn was the son of a bookseller Jan Commelin and Catherina Valckenier. His father came from Brussels and had settled in Amsterdam around 1582. Through his mother he was closely related to the powerful Valckeniers family. Isaac married into the rich Bouwer family and became the brother-in-law of :nl:Syvert P. Sem, a former investor of the East India Company, involved in charity. The couple had five children, two sons Jan and Caspar. He lived at Gelderse kade en

Oudezijds Achterburgwal The Oudezijds Achterburgwal, often abbreviated to ''OZ Achterburgwal'', is a street and canal in De Wallen, the red light district in the center of Amsterdam. Location and characteristics Just like the Oudezijds Voorburgwal, the OZ Achterburgwa ...

, near Oude Kerk. His wife died in 1641. Commelin wrote ''Lives of the Stadtholders

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...

and Maurice'' and ''Origin and Progress of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock c ...

'', as well as other basic works in the fields of

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, a ...

cosmography The term cosmography has two distinct meanings: traditionally it has been the protoscience of mapping the general features of the cosmos, heaven and Earth; more recently, it has been used to describe the ongoing effort to determine the large-sca ...

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...

, discovery,

plague (disease) Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis ''Yersinia pestis'' (''Y. pestis''; formerly '' Pasteurella pestis'') is a gram-negative, non-motile, coccobacillus bacterium without spores that is related to both ...

and travel. From 1647-1655 he served as regent of the NZ Huiszitten House (

charity (practice) The practice of charity is the voluntary giving of help to those in need, as a humanitarian act, unmotivated by self-interest. There are a number of philosophies about charity, often associated with religion. Etymology The word ''charity'' ...

for the poor). From 1655-1675 he served as regent of a hospital for victims of the plague (Pesthuis). It was his brother Caspar who served together with the painter

Ferdinand Bol Ferdinand Bol (24 June 1616 – 24 August 1680) was a Dutch painter, etcher and draftsman. Although his surviving work is rare, it displays Rembrandt's influence; like his master, Bol favored historical subjects, portraits, numerous self-port ...

as regent of OZ Huiszitten House. In 1665 he cooperated with Tobias van Domselaer and Arnoldus Montanus on a book about the history of Amsterdam. He was the father of the botanist

Jan Commelin Jan Commelin (23 April 1629 – 19 January 1692), also known as Jan Commelijn, Johannes Commelin or Johannes Commelinus, was a botanist, and was the son of historian Isaac Commelin; his brother Casparus was a bookseller and newspaper publisher. ...

and the grandfather of

Caspar Commelin Caspar Commelijn or Caspar Commelin (14 October 1668 Amsterdam – 25 December 1731 Amsterdam), was a Dutch botanist. Life and work He was the son of the bookseller, historian and publisher, Casparus Commelijn and his first wife, Margrieta Heyd ...

Works

* ''Hollandsch Placcaatboek''. Amsterdam, 1644 * ''Begin ende voortgangh van de Vereenighde Nederlantsche Geoctroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie : Vervatende de voornaemste reysen, by de inwoonderen der selver provincien derwaerts gedaen...'', Amsterdam: Johannes Janssonius, 164
via archive.org
* '' Wilhelm En Maurits van Nassau, Princen van Orangien, Haer Leven en Bedrijf, Of 't Begin en Voortgang der Nederlandsche Oorlogen : Vervatende een Vaerachtigh Verhael Aller Belegheringen ende Victorien, Daer de Ho. Mog. Heeren Staten der Vereenighde Nederlanden, onder hun wijse Regeeringe te Water en te Lande, door Godes zegen mede verrijckt zijn ; Met verscheyde Koopere Figueren verciert ; En door een Lief-hebber der Historien uyt verscheyde Schriften te samen ghestelt'', Amsterdam, 1651 * ''Beschrijvinge van Amsterdam, haar eerste oorspronk uyt den huyze der Heeren van Aemstel en Aemstellant; met en verhaal van haar leven en dappere krijgsdaden. Uyt verscheyde oude en nieuwe Hollandtsche kronijcken, beschrijvingen, brieven, willekeuren, etc. by een vergadert'', Amsterdam, M. Wz. Doornick, 1665.

References

1598 births 1676 deaths 17th-century Dutch historians Writers from Amsterdam {{Netherlands-historian-stub