Jan Valckenburgh (born 1623 – 8 July 1667) was a civil servant of the

Dutch West India 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 ( ...

. Valckenburgh began as a simple assistant-trader, but managed to make career up to one of the highest ranks, that of Director-General of the Dutch Gold Coast, twice.

Biography

Born into a family of modest means, Valckenburg was baptized in the Oude Kerk 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 ...

on 2 April 1623. His father, Paulus Paulusz Valckenburgh was a basket weaver from

Geleen Geleen (; li, Gelaen ) is a city in the southern part of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg in the Netherlands. With 31,670 inhabitants in 2020, it is part of the municipality of Sittard-Geleen. Geleen is situated along the river Gele ...

, his mother Geertje Lamberts a housewife. Valckenburgh became a commissioner in food supplies in

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

in 1643 and returned to Amsterdam in 1649, after the recapture of Luanda by the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

. It is likely that he married the same year to Dina Lems from

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushing ...

, a daughter of former Governor of Dutch Brazil and later Luanda, Adriaen Lems. Valckenburgh returned to West-Africa in 1652 when he was installed as fiscal on the Gold Coast. In

Elmina Elmina, also known as Edina by the local Fante people, Fante, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem Municipal District, Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, Ghana, Centra ...

, he had a relationship with

mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese is ...

Helena Correa, who was also the mistress of the previous Director-General. A son from this relationship was born in 1653. Three years later, Valckenburgh himself became Director-General. After the end of his first term, Valkenburgh returns to Amsterdam in 1659, where he buys

Keizersgracht The Keizersgracht (; "Emperor's canal") is a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is the second of the three main Amsterdam canals that together form the Grachtengordel, or canal belt, and lies between the inner Herengracht and outer Prinsengr ...

number 113, becoming a neighbour of his Gold Coast colleague

Hendrik Carloff Hendrik Carloff (died after 1677) was an adventurer active in the 17th century. Carloff began his career as a cabin boy but rose to become the Commander and Director of the Dutch West India Company. He later joined the Swedish Africa Company and ...

. In 1660, his son Jacobus is born, and in 1662, his daughter Cornelia. On 5 September 1662, he leaves Amsterdam again, however, for his second term as Director-General on the Gold Coast. Due to

kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blood ...

problems, he is relieved of his duties on 2 June 1667, and a month later, on 8 July, Valckenburgh dies.

Portrait

During his leave in Amsterdam between 1659 and 1662, Valckenburgh commissioned a portrait of himself and his wife with the painter Daniel Vertangen. In 2002 it was considered the only painting of a Director-General of the Gold Goast in service of the Dutch West India Company, but a portrait of Director-General

Jan Pranger Jan Pranger ( – 13 April 1773) was a Dutch merchant, slave trader and colonial administrator who served as the Director-General of the Dutch Gold Coast from 1730 to 1734. A portrait of him along with an enslaved servant by Dutch artist F ...

has been identified since as well. He is painted with a black house slave and with Fort Elmina on the background. Both portraits were bought by the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

in Amsterdam in 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valckenburgh, Jan 1623 births 1667 deaths Colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast Dutch West India Company people from Amsterdam Dutch slave traders