Jan van Riebeeck

This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2010) Jan van Riebeeck 1st Commander of the Cape In office 7 April 1652 – 6 May 1662 Preceded by Office established Succeeded by Zacharias Wagenaer Born 21 April 1619 Culemborg, Gelderland  Dutch Republic Died 18 January 1677(1677-01-18) (aged 57) Batavia VOC East Indies Resting place Groote Kerk, Jakarta Birth name Johan Anthoniszoon van Riebeeck Nationality Dutch Spouse(s) Maria de la Quellerie Children Abraham van Riebeeck 7 others Occupation Colonial administrator Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (April 21, 1619, Culemborg, Gelderland – January 18, 16771) was a Dutch colonial administrator and founder of Cape Town. Biography Van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands as the son of a surgeon. He grew up in Schiedam, where he married 19-year old Maria de la Quellerie on 28 March 1649. (She died in Malacca, now part of Malaysia, on 2 November 1664, at the age of 35). The couple had eight children, most of whom did not survive infancy. Their son Abraham van Riebeeck, born at the Cape, later became Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Joining the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1639, he served in a number of posts, including that of an assistant surgeon in the Batavia in the East Indies. He subsequently visited Japan. His most important position was that of head of the VOC trading post in Tonkin, Vietnam. However, he was called back from this post as it was discovered that he was conducting trade for his own account. In 1651 he was requested to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. He landed three ships Drommedaris, Reijger and Goede Hoop at the future Cape Town on 6 April 1652 and fortified the site as a way-station for the VOC trade route between the Netherlands and the East Indies. The Walvisch and the Oliphant arrived later, having had 130 burials at sea. Arrival of Jan van Riebeeck in Cape Town painted by Charles Davidson Bell Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting fruit and vegetables and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi people. In the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape Town there is a Wild Almond hedge still surviving, that was planted on his orders as a barrier. The initial fort, named Fort de Goede Hoop ('Fort of Good Hope') was made of mud, clay and timber, and had four corners or bastions. This first fort should not be confused with Redoubt Duijnhoop or the Cape Town Castle. The Castle, built between 1664 and 1679, several years after Van Riebeeck's departure, has five bastions and is made of brick, stone and cement. (Zacharias Wagenaer laid the cornerstone of this castle.) Van Riebeeck reported the first comet discovered from South Africa, C/1652 Y1, which was spotted on December 17, 1652. He died in Batavia (now renamed Jakarta) on the island of Java in 1677. Legacy in South Africa Jan van Riebeeck's coat of arms Old South African currency featuring Jan van Riebeeck Jan van Riebeeck is of cultural and historical significance in South Africa among many of the Afrikaner population, who view him as the founding father of their nation. This regard was also prevalent in that his image appeared ubiquitously on stamps and the South African currency from the 1940s up until 1993 when the South African Reserve Bank changed the currency to an apolitical design of the fauna and flora of the region. 6 April used to be known as Van Riebeeck's Day, and later as Founders' Day but the holiday was abolished by the ANC government after the democratic elections of 1994. His image no longer features on any official currency or stamps, but statues of him and his wife remain standing in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is based on the Van Riebeeck family coat of arms. Many towns and villages these days still have streets named after him. Riebeek-Kasteel is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, situated at 75 km from Cape Town in The Riebeek Valley together with its sister town Riebeek West. Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck (English: Jan van Riebeeck High School) is an Afrikaans high school in Cape Town. References ^ Trotter, Alys Fane Keatinge (1903). Old cape Colony : a chronicle of her men and houses from 1652 to 1806. London : Selwyn & Blount. http://www.archive.org/stream/oldcapecolonychr00trotuoft#page/37/mode/1up. Retrieved 2009-07-25.  Collins, Robert O. Central and South African history. Topics in world history. New York, NY, USA: M. Wiener Pub. 1990. ISBN 9781558760172. Hunt, John, and Heather-Ann Campbell. Dutch South Africa: early settlers at the Cape, 1652–1708. Leicester, UK: Matador 2005. ISBN 9781904744955. Riebeeck, Jan van, and Robert Kirby. The secret letters of Jan van Riebeeck. London, England, UK: Penguin Books 1992. ISBN 9780140177657. Persondata Name Riebeeck, Jan Van Alternative names Short description Date of birth 21 April 1619 Place of birth Culemborg, Gelderland Date of death 18 January 1677 Place of death Batavia VOC East Indies