Julius Vitringa Coulon (9 August 1824 – 14 July 1878) was a Dutch politician and colonial administrator who served as commander of several forts on the

Dutch Gold Coast The Dutch Gold Coast or Dutch Guinea, officially Dutch possessions on the Coast of Guinea (Dutch: ''Nederlandse Bezittingen ter Kuste van Guinea'') was a portion of contemporary Ghana that was gradually colonized by the Dutch, beginning in 1612. ...

and, upon returning to the Netherlands, as mayor of the town of Sloten and the municipality of

Hennaarderadeel Hennaarderadeel is a former municipality in the Dutch province of Friesland, southwest of Leeuwarden. Since 1984, the area has been a part of the municipality of Littenseradiel. Some of the larger villages in Hennaarderadeel are Wommels and Eastere ...

Biography

Julius Vitringa Coulon was born to Aemilius Vitringa Coulon en Nieske Zeper. Both of his grandfathers, dr. and served as mayor of

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

. In 1853, Vitringa Coulon was installed assistant on the

, where he subsequently served as commander of

Fort Batenstein Fort Batenstein was a fort and trading post established by the Dutch on the Gold Coast in 1656. It was situated near Butre (old spelling: ''Boutry''). The fort was ceded with the entire Dutch Gold Coast to Britain in 1872. At this fort, the Treaty ...

Butre Butre is a village in the Ahanta West district, district in the Western Region of Ghana. Butre contains the Fort Batenstein Fort Batenstein was a fort and trading post established by the Dutch on the Gold Coast in 1656. It was situated near But ...

Fort Crêvecoeur Ussher Fort is a fort in Accra, Ghana. It was built by the Dutch in 1649 as Fort Crèvecœur, and is a day's march from Elmina and to the east of Accra on a rocky point between two lagoons. It was one of three forts that Europeans built in the regi ...

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, and Fort St. Anthony at

Axim Axim is a coastal town and the capital of Nzema East Municipal district, a district in Western Region of South Ghana. Axim lies 64 kilometers west of the port city of Sekondi-Takoradi in the Western Region, west of Cape Three Points. Axim has ...

.Almanak voor de Nederlandsche West-Indische bezittingen, en de kust van Guinea. Jaargang 1859
/ref> In May 1866, Vitringa Coulon retired from service on the Dutch Gold Coast and returned to the Netherlands, where he settled down in

Boxmeer Boxmeer () is a town and former municipality in upper southeastern Netherlands. Boxmeer as a municipality incorporated the former municipality of Beugen en Rijkevoort and that of Vierlingsbeek. In Overloon is the Overloon War Museum. Boxmeer, ...

. In 1869, Vitringa Coulon married Elisabeth Johanna van Hien (1840-1918), sister of his colleague Carel van Hien, in Boxmeer. Vitringa Coulon was appointed mayor of Sloten in 1874 and a year later appointed mayor of Hennaarderadeel.

Map of the District of Axim

While Vitringa Coulon served as commander of Fort St. Anthony at Axim, the Dutch colonial administration ordered all commanders to draw a map of the area around the fort, as part of an administrative reform aimed at establishing

suzerainty Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...

over the peoples near the fort. The map Vitringa Coulon drew is kept at the

Nationaal Archief The Nationaal Archief (NA) is the national archives of the Netherlands, located in The Hague. It houses collections for the central government, the province of South Holland, and the former County of Holland. There is also material from private i ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

.gahetna.nl
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitringa Coulon, Julius 1824 births 1878 deaths Dutch Gold Coast people Mayors in Friesland People from Leeuwarden