Dirck van Cloon (also Dirk and Theodoor van Cloon; 1684 – 10 March 1735) was

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies The governor-general of the Dutch East Indies ( nl, gouverneur-generaal van Nederlands Indië) represented Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949. Occupied by Japanese fo ...

. He died of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

at the age of 50. He was born in

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

sometime in 1684. For his education and training he was sent to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He graduated in Law at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...

on 1 April 1707. He returned to Batavia on the

clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "C ...

''Donkervliet'' and spent some time in

Dutch Coromandel Coromandel was a governorate of the Dutch East India Company on the coasts of the Coromandel region from 1610, until the company's liquidation in 1798. Dutch presence in the region began with the capture of Pulicat from the Portuguese in Goa and ...

. He was among other things a district overseer in Sadraspatnam. He got into a fight with the governor of Coromandel,

Adriaan de Visser Adriaan is the Dutch and Afrikaans spelling of the given name Adrian. Before the 19th century the spelling Adriaen was also common, and people used the spelling interchangeably. Adriaan may refer to: People Artists *Adriaen Backer (1635–1684), ...

, who accused Van Cloon of delivering bad quality goods. The government in Batavia sent Van Cloon back to the Netherlands, but he persuaded the Directors of the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

that de Visser was not to be trusted. Van Cloon was reinstated and he left for the Indies on 4 November 1719 on board the ''van de Huis te Assenburg'' as supercargo. In 1720, he became district chief at

Negapatnam Nagapattinam (''nākappaṭṭinam'', previously spelt Nagapatnam or Negapatam) is a town in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District. The town came to prominence during the period of Medieval ...

. In 1723, he became Governor of

. In 1724, he returned to Batavia to advise the Governor-General and in 1730, he became “''Raad-ordinair''” (chief advisor) of the Indies. On 9 October 1731 the Directors of the

named Dirck van Cloon Governor-General of the Indies, to which he succeeded on 28 May 1732, following the disgrace of

Diederik Durven Diederik Durven (13 September 1676 – 26 February 1740) was a Dutch colonial administrator and Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1729 to 1732. Durven studied Law at Leiden University where he graduated on 19 July 1702. He became an ...

. By 20 December 1733 van Cloon was asking to resign because of sickness. He died in the post, however, and it was not until after he had died that his successor took over. Van Cloon was involved in a stand-off with the nascent Swedish East India Company, but he resolved it amicably. Less happy was an insurrection of unemployed Chinese sugar plantation workers. This was caused by the collapse of the sugar market, due to over-production and government mishandling.

External links

Vocsite.nl
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cloon, Dirck van 1684 births 1735 deaths Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies Governors of Dutch Coromandel Leiden University alumni People from Batavia, Dutch East Indies