Isaac Massa
| Isaac Massa | |
|---|---|
Portrait by Frans Hals, 1626
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| Born | October 7, 1586 Haarlem |
| Died | 1643 (aged 56–57) |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Occupation | merchant, diplomat, cartographer |
| Known for | Embassy to Russia and memoirs of the Time of Troubles |
| Spouse(s) | Beatrix van der Laen |
Isaac Abrahamszoon Massa (baptized October 7, 1586, in Haarlem, died 1643) was a Dutch grain trader, traveller and diplomat, the envoy to Muscovy. He wrote memoirs related to the Time of Troubles and created some of the earliest maps of Eastern Europe and Siberia. Due to Massa's experience in and knowledge of Muscovy, he was considered a Dutch "Kremlinologist." The Isaac Massa Foundation was established in his honor in Groningen. It aims to stimulate scientific and cultural contacts between the Russian Federation and the Netherlands.
Isaac Massa was born into a wealthy silk merchant's family; his father Abraham Massa had relocated the family from Liège to Haarlem before Isaac was born. His ancestors could have been French Huguenots who fled their homeland in the beginning of the Reformation. The family surname was also known as Massart, Massaert, suggesting French origins, which is where most Huguenots started. Under religious persecution, they generally relocated to Protestant countries, such as England and those of northern Europe.
In 1601 Massa left Haarlem for Moscow to assist the family trade. Isaac was witness to the second half of Boris Godunov's reign, during which a civil war broke out, now known as the Time of Troubles. He survived the capture of Moscow by False Dmitriy I and left Russia in 1609, before the fall of Tsar Vasily Shuysky.
Massa compiled an account of the 1601–1609 events (Dutch: Een cort Verhael van Begin en Oorspronk deser tegenwoordighe Oorloogen en troeblen in Moscovia totten jare 1610), which he presented to Stadtholder Maurice. It was reproduced in print in the nineteenth century. In 1612–1613 Massa published two articles on Russian events and the geography of the Land of Samoyeds, accompanied by a map of Russia, which were published in an almanac edited by Hessel Gerritsz. His notes on his various travels have been published in conjunction with maps made by the explorer Henry Hudson.
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