Jan van Riebeeck

He fathered eight children in his lifetime; many of which did not survive infancy. His first son, Abraham, went on to become Governor-General of the East Indies.

His first wife, Maria de la Quellerie, died in Malacca in 1664 at age 34. She had been en route to her husband’s final assignment.

On March 10, 1667, he remarried Maria Scipio. They remained married until his death.

Jan Van Riebeeck was born Johna Anthoniszoon Van Riebeeck, in Culemborg, the Netherlands, on April 21st, 1619 to Anthony Jansz Van Riebeeck and Elisabeth Govertsdr Van Gaesbeeck. He had one younger sibling, a brother named Geertruyd.

Van Riebeeck was the son of a surgeon. Learning his craft from his father, he later became an assistant surgeon in 1639.

He was raised in Schiedam, where he met his wife, Maria de la Quellerie. They were married on March 28th, 1649. He was 30 years old at the time of the marriage; she was 19.

Van Riebeeck joined the ‘Dutch-East India Company’ in 1639. His first assignment was to sail to Batavia as an assistant surgeon.

In 1645, after a successful posting in Batavia, he was placed in charge of the company’s trading station located in Tongkin (now Tonkin Vietnam). After it was discovered that he was trading for his own profit and gain, he was later removed from his position and was ordered to return home.

On his return trip, his ship was docked for 18 days in Table Bay, South Africa. He quickly realized that the cape was a terrific place to furnish passing ships with produce and clean water, which would help minimize the crew fatalities due to scurvy.

In 1651, the ‘Dutch-East India Company’ appointed Van Riebeeck to establish the first Dutch settlement in Africa.

He returned to the southern point of Africa on April 6th, 1652 with three ships, the Reijer, the Dromedaris, and the Goede Hoop. The Walvisch and the Oliphant landed shortly after, having buried 130 crew members at sea.

During the voyage to the Cape, Van Riebeeck created the Council of Policy which held meetings upon the Dromedaris. The meeting minutes, dated December of 1651, are said to be the beginning of written public records in South Africa as the indigenous people had no written culture.

In 1658, he began a monumental tradition by banishing a local translator named Autshumato to Robben Island for committing crimes against the ‘Dutch-East India Company.’ This island continued to house many political prisoners throughout the years, including Nelson Mandela.

His journal, entitled ‘Precis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope,’ was published in both English and Dutch. The journal, commonly known as ‘Riebeeck’s journal’, was a three volume daily record of the ‘Dutch-East India Company’s’ South African trading station. The journal documents the period of 1652–1655.