Willem Huydecoper (November 1788 – 22 February 1826) was an important Euro-African

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, and

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

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. ...

in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

Biography

Willem Huydecoper was born in Elmina to Willem Pieter Cornelis Christiaan Huydecoper, son of Director-General

Jan Pieter Theodoor Huydecoper Jan Pieter Theodoor Huydecoper (2 September 1728 – 11 July 1767) was an administrator of the Dutch West India Company. He served as Director-General of the Dutch Gold Coast between 1759 and 1760 (ad interim) and from 1764 until his death i ...

, and Amba Quacoea, a Fante woman. He moved to

Surinam Surinam may refer to: * Surinam (Dutch colony) (1667–1954), Dutch plantation colony in Guiana, South America * Surinam (English colony) (1650–1667), English short-lived colony in South America * Surinam, alternative spelling for Suriname ...

, where he was christened on 16 March 1803. By 1809, Willem Huydecoper was back in Elmina, where he was installed as assistant in the colonial administration on 14 December of the said year. He was promoted to first assistant with the titular rank of second lieutenant on 15 August 1815, to second resident of

Fort San Sebastian A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

at Shama on 6 October 1816, and finally to commandant of the same fort on 31 August 1819. During his tenure at Fort Sebastian, between May 1816 and April 1817, he was also installed as envoy for the Kingdom of the Netherlands at the Ashanti court at

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is the ...

, to renew the relationship that had become estranged during the French occupation of the Netherlands. His upward career then took a hit, as he was demoted to assistant on 1 November 1819. He served the remainder of his career as administrator of medicines, interpreter of the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...

, and master of works. Huydecoper died in Elmina on 22 February 1826, at age 37.

Family

Willem Huydecoper is the father of

Jacob Huydecoper Jacob Peter Huydecoper (11 November 1811 – 12 February 1845) was an early 19th-century Elmina Euro-African civil servant and diplomat on the Dutch Gold Coast. Early life Jacob Huydecoper was born in Elmina to Willem Huydecoper and a ...

, who followed in his diplomatic footsteps to also became envoy of te Netherlands at Kumasi, and of Efua Henrietta Huydecoper, who married Governor of the Gold Coast

Anthony van der Eb Anthony van der Eb (born 3 January 1813 – 21 September 1852) was a Dutch civil servant, who made a career in the administration on the Dutch Gold Coast. Biography Van der Eb was born in Rotterdam on 3 January 1813 to Hendrik van der Eb and ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huydecoper, Willem 1788 births 1826 deaths Dutch Gold Coast people People from Elmina Politicians from Central Region (Ghana)