Nicolaes Witsen

Nicolaes Witsen (8 May 1641 – 10 August 1717; modern Dutch: Nicolaas Witsen) was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682-1706. In 1693 he became administrator of the VOC. In 1689 he was extraordinary-ambassador to the English court, and became Fellow of the Royal Society. In his free time he was cartographer, maritime writer, and an authority on shipbuilding. His books on the subject are important sources on Dutch shipbuilding in the 17th century. Furthermore, he was an expert on Russian affairs. He was the first to describe Siberia, Far East and Central Asia in his study Noord en Oost Tartarye [North and East Tartary].

Nicolaes Witsen was born in Amsterdam, the son of Cornelis Jan Witsen, burgomaster, head bailiff and administrator of the Dutch West India Company. In 1656 Nicolaes went with his father to England, where he was introduced to Oliver Cromwell's children. In March 1662 Nicolaes Witsen held a disputation at the Amsterdam Athenaeum Illustre, in which he argued against the influence of comets on the welfare of all earthly things, possibly influenced by his nephew Joannes Hudde. In 1664 and 1665 Nicolaes made an embassy to Moscovia with the envoy Jacob Boreel. By boat they went to Riga, then Swedish, and over land to Novgorod and Moscow. There he met with Andrew Vinius, who became his life long friend, sending him maps and objects. The talks with czar Alexis of Russia about a monopoly on tar were no success. Witsen wrote in his diary that no-one there was occupied with art or science. Witsen visited the Patriarch Nikon and made notes on the worship of icons, interested in his name saint (and patron saint of Amsterdam), saint Nicholas. He studied law at Leiden University, but became more interested in languages and maps. In the 1666-1667 Witsen traveled to Rome and met with Cosimo III de' Medici in Pisa. In Paris he met the scientist Melchisédech Thévenot. In 1668 he travelled to Oxford. In 1674 he married Catherina Hochepied. Four children were born, not surviving childhood.

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