Hendrick Brouwer

Hendrik Brouwer
Hendrik Brouwer
8th Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
In office 1632–1636
Preceded by	Jacques Specx
Succeeded by	Antonio van Diemen
Personal details
Born	between March 24 and July 18, 1581 Low Countries
Died	August 7, 1643 Valdivia, Chile
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation	Colonial governor

Hendrik Brouwer (Dutch: [ˈbrʌu̯ər]; 1581 – August 7, 1643) was a Dutch explorer, admiral, and colonial administrator both in Japan and the Dutch East Indies.

He is thought to first have sailed to the East Indies for the Dutch East India Company (VOC) in 1606. In 1610 he left again to the Indies, now as commander of three ships. On this trip he devised the Brouwer Route, a route from South Africa to Java that reduced voyage duration from a year to about 6 months by taking advantage of the strong westerly winds in the Roaring Forties (the latitudes between 40° and 50° south). Up to that point, the Dutch had followed a route copied from the Portuguese via the coast of Africa, Mauritius and Ceylon. By 1617, the VOC required all their ships to take the Brouwer route.

After his arrival in 1611 in the East Indies, he was sent to Japan to replace Jacques Specx temporarily as opperhoofd at Dejima from August 28, 1612 to August 6, 1614. During that time he made a visit to the Japanese court at Edo. In 1613 he made a trip to Siam that laid the foundation for the Dutch trade with Siam.

Early in 1632, he was part of a delegation sent to London to solve trade disagreements between the English and Dutch East India companies. Afterwards he left for the Indies, and on April 18 of that same year he was appointed Governor-General of the East Indies, again following Jacques Specx, a position which he held until January 1, 1636. Anthony van Diemen was his assistant during this entire period, and many of the Dutch explorations into the Pacific carried out under Van Diemen's command were suggested in writing by Brouwer before he left.

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