Hendrik Becker (sometimes "Bekker") (3 August 1661, in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

– ca 15 August 1722, in Amsterdam) was the

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

from 1707 until 1716. Becker was the son of Johanna Rombouts and Hendirk Becker Sr,

schepen A schepen (Dutch; . ') or échevin (French) or Schöffe (German) is a municipal officer in Belgium and formerly the Netherlands. It has been replaced by the ' in the Netherlands (a municipal executive). In modern Belgium, the ''schepen'' or ''éch ...

of Amsterdam, a director of the

Dutch West Indies Company The Dutch West India Company ( nl, Geoctrooieerde Westindische Compagnie, ''WIC'' or ''GWC''; ; en, Chartered West India Company) was a chartered company of Dutch merchants as well as foreign investors. Among its founders was Willem Usselincx ( ...

and owner of a whaling fleet. Hendrik Jr joined the

Dutch East Indies 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 c ...

(VOC) and sailed to the East Indies as captain of the ship ''de Voetboog''. He was captain in the army at

Japara Waxed cotton is cotton impregnated with a paraffin or natural beeswax based wax, woven into or applied to the cloth. Popular from the 1920s to the mid-1950s, the product, which developed from the sailing industry in England and Scotland, became co ...

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

and from 1692 in

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

in south-west India. In 1694 he moved to Ceylon, where he had a function in

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 ...

. He became extraordinary member of the

Council of the Indies The Council of the Indies ( es, Consejo de las Indias), officially the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies ( es, Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias, link=no, ), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Amer ...

in 1705, and when in 1707 Cornelis Johannes Simonsz had requested a transfer from governor of Ceylon, he solicited for the position. He was appointed on 22 November 1707. During his reign as governor the financial situation of the VOC on Ceylon improved considerably. He was renowned for founding the Leper Hospital in Hendella (now Hendala in the

Gampaha District Gampaha District ( si, ගම්පහ දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''gampaha distrikkaya'', ta, கம்பஹா மாவட்டம் ''Kampahā Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administ ...

). Still, the fact that the VOC appointed

Isaak Augustijn Rumpf Isaak Augustijn Rumpf (1673–1723) was a governor of Dutch Ceylon. He was appointed on 5 December 1716 and was Governor until 11 June 1723, when he died in office. Family life Rumpf (sometimes spelled ''Rumph'') was the son of the diplomat Chris ...

, an adversary of Becker, as his successor suggests that the VOC council was not entirely pleased with his tenure. He retired in December 1716. and in 1717 returned to his fatherland as commander of a fleet of 29 ships carrying cargo worth seven million guilders. at the Nationaal Archief (in Dutch) Becker was married with Anna Catharina Collaert, but remained without offspring. He died in his hometown and was buried on 17 August 1722 in the

Westerkerk The Westerkerk (; en, Western Church) is a Reformed church within Dutch Protestant Calvinism in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the most western part of the Grachtengordel neighborhood (Centrum borough), next to the Jordaan, between ...

.Burial registers at the Amsterdam city archives
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Hendrik 1661 births 1722 deaths 17th-century Dutch people 18th-century Dutch people Dutch expatriates in Sri Lanka Governors of Dutch Ceylon Dutch East India Company people from Amsterdam