Jan Jacob Mauricius (

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 ...

, 3 May 1692 -

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, 21 March 1768) was a Dutch diplomat, poet, translator and

governor of Suriname This is a list of colonial governors of Suriname, a country in northern South America. It borders French Guiana to the east, Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. Suriname was first colonized by the British ...

Life

Mauricius produced verses at a young age. He became a student at Leiden on 31 March 1705, gained his doctorate at the age of 16, then settled as a lawyer in The Hague. He became assistant with

Isaac van Hoornbeek Isaäc van Hoornbeek (9 December 1655 – 17 June 1727) was Grand Pensionary of Holland, the political official of the entire Dutch Republic, from 12 September 1720 until his death in 1727. Hoornbeek was born in Leiden. He served as pensio ...

. Four years later he bought a farm near

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

and had a cattle breeding there on a large scale. In 1714 he settled on a farm in the

Beemster Beemster () is a former Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The Beemster is the first polder in the Netherlands land reclamation, reclaimed from a lake, the water extracted by windmi ...

. Because of the influence of wealthy friends, in 1719 he became a board member of

Purmerend Purmerend () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The city is surrounded by polders, such as the Purmer, Beemster and the Wormer. Purmerend's population grew relatively slowly until the 1960s ...

and the same year he was deputy at the meeting of the

States of Holland and West Friesland The States of Holland and West Frisia () were the representation of the two Estates of the realm, Estates (''standen'') to the court of the Count of Holland. After the Dutch Republic, United Provinces were formed — and there no longer was a count, ...

; in 1725 resident at the

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in Hamburg. He was a lover of drama and poetry and became active in the local opera. His third wife came from Hamburg. In 1742 Mauricius was appointed as governor of Suriname. It has been said that with Mauricius the Enlightenment entered the colony. Dillen, J.G. van (1970) Van Rijkdom en Regenten, p. 587. His nine-year administration was characterized by much opposition from part of the powerful planters, the so-called

cabal A cabal is a group of people who are united in some close design, usually to promote their private views or interests in an ideology, a state (polity), state, or another community, often by Wiktionary:intrigue, intrigue and usually without the kn ...

.(nl) de Kom, Anton, Wij slaven van Suriname, Contact N.V., 1934, “Mr. Johan Jacob Mauricius (1742-1751)”, blz. 63-70. . 680. The resistance became so bad that even accusations against the States-General were brought against him. He returned in 1751, completely acquitted and honourably discharged. Probably Mauricius urged during his governorship in Suriname or during his stay in the Republic in 1751 William Gideon Deutz to provide credit to the planters. The credit enabled planters to change creditor. Van Dillen states that the planters could get money too easily. It was forced upon them, as it seems. Already in 1755, the States General sent him again as a

resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceut ...

to Hamburg, where he died after a painful and prolonged suffering.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mauricius, Jan Jacob 1692 births 1768 deaths Governors of Suriname Dutch diplomats Dutch poets Dutch translators