Pieter Nuyts
| Pieter Nuyts | |
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Pieter Nuyts in Taiwan in 1629 (Japanese artist).
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| 3rd Governor of Formosa | |
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In office 1627–1629 |
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| Preceded by | Gerard Frederikszoon de With |
| Succeeded by | Hans Putmans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1598 Middelburg, Zeeland, Dutch Republic |
| Died | 11 December 1655 Dutch Republic |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Spouse(s) | Cornelia Jacot (1620–1632) Anna van Driel (1640–1640) Agnes Granier (1649–1655) |
| Children | Laurens Nuyts (c. 1622–1631) Pieter Nuyts (1624–1627) Anna Cornelia Nuyts (b. 1626) Elisabeth Nuyts (b. 1626) Pieter Nuyts (1640–c. 1709) |
| Alma mater | Leiden University |
| Religion | Protestant |
Pieter Nuyts or Nuijts (1598 – 11 December 1655) was a Dutch explorer, diplomat, and politician.
He was part of a landmark expedition of the Dutch East India Company in 1626–27 which mapped the southern coast of Australia. He became the Dutch ambassador to Japan in 1627, and he was appointed Governor of Formosa in the same year. Later he became a controversial figure because of his disastrous handling of official duties, coupled with rumours about private indiscretions. He was disgraced, fined and imprisoned, before being made a scapegoat to ease strained Dutch relations with the Japanese. He returned to the Dutch Republic in 1637, where he became the mayor of Hulster Ambacht and of Hulst.
He is chiefly remembered today in the place names of various points along the southern Australian coast, named for him after his voyage of 1626–27. During the early 20th century, he was vilified in Japanese school textbooks in Taiwan as an example of a "typical arrogant western bully".
Pieter Nuyts was born in 1598 in the town of Middelburg in Zeeland, Dutch Republic to Laurens Nuyts, a merchant, and his wife Elisabeth Walraents, wealthy Protestant immigrants from Antwerp. After studying at the University of Leiden and gaining a doctorate in philosophy, he returned to Middelburg to work in his father's trading company.
In 1613, Pieter Nuyts, who was staying in Leiden with the famous Orientalist Erpenius, is known to have met with the Moroccan envoy in the Low Countries Al-Hajari. Al-Hajari wrote for him an entry in Pieter's Album Amicorum stating:
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