Nicolai Esmit (also called Nicolay or Nicholas and Schmidt) was

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

of St. Thomas in the

Danish West Indies The Danish West Indies () or Danish Virgin Islands () or Danish Antilles were a Danish colony in the Caribbean, consisting of the islands of Saint Thomas with , Saint John () with , Saint Croix with , and Water Island. The islands of St ...

from 4 July 1680 - November 1682. He was born in

Holstein Holstein (; ; ; ; ) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider (river), Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost States of Germany, state of Germany. Holstein once existed as the German County of Holstein (; 8 ...

. His younger brother

Adolph Esmit Adolph Esmit was a Danish colonial administrator and slave trader who served as governor of St. Thomas in the Danish West Indies from 1683 to 1684, and again from 1687 to 1688. He was born in Holstein. His older brother Nicolai Esmit preceded h ...

succeeded him as governor of St. Thomas.Bricka, Biografisk, 599

Biography

According to Dansk Biografisk Lexikon, Esmit served under

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

after finishing school. In 1678, he and his brother were issued deeds for land they owned in St. Thomas. Esmit was the only applicant to the position of governor after Jørgen Iversen Dyppel's wish for retirement on 9 September 1679 and was instated on the latter's official retirement on 4 July 1680. The island was characterized by a lack of manpower at the time, and

Christian V Christian V (15 April 1646 – 25 August 1699) was King of Denmark and Norway from 1670 until his death in 1699. Well-regarded by the common people, he was the first king anointed at Frederiksborg Castle chapel as absolute monarch since the de ...

bought slaves from the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n king of the

Akan people The Akan () people are a kwa languages, Kwa group living primarily in present-day Ghana and in parts of Ivory Coast and Togo in West Africa. The Akan speak languages within the Central Tano languages, Central Tano branch of the Potou–Tano la ...

for the colony.Knox, Account, 54 However, Esmit appeared to

Danish West India Company The Danish West India Company () or Danish West IndiaGuinea Company (') was a Dano-Norwegian chartered company that operated out of the colonies in the Danish West Indies. It is estimated that 120,000 enslaved Africans were transported on the ...

to be subverting the work of Dyppel, and in 1682 they were sending Dyppel back.Bricka, Biografisk, 600 However, Dyppel died en route due to a mutiny, and before a new governor could be named to succeed Esmit, his brother Adolph led a revolution that overthrew his authority in 1682. After managing to escape to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, Esmit was put on trial, but was declared insane. The court awarded him damages of 20000 rigsdaler from his brother, but he refused to comply. Admiralitetsraad Jens Lassen saw to it that Esmit was paid a small pension until his death.

Bibliography

* Waldemar Westergaard, ''The Danish West Indies under Company Rule (1671 - 1754)'' (MacMillan, New York, 1917) * ''C. F. Bricka'' (editor), Dansk biografisk Lexikon, first edition, 19 volumes, 1887–1905, Vol. IV. Online edition available: https://runeberg.org/dbl/4/ (pages 599 and 600. Numbered as 601 and 602 in the online edition). * John P. Knox, ''A Historical Account of St. Thomas'' (Charles Schribner, New York, 1852)
Online edition available

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Esmit, Nicolai Governors of the Danish West Indies Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown 1680s in the Danish West Indies 17th-century Danish people