Willem Hondius or Willem Hondt (c. 1598 in

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 o ...

– 1652 or 1658 in Danzig (Gdańsk)) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

engraver, cartographer and painter who spent most of his life in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Life

Willem Hondius was one of seven children of Hendrik Hondius the Elder (1573 – c. 1649) and Sara Jansdochter. His father was one of the most important Dutch reproductive printmakers and publishers in the early 17th century. A connection with the Hondius family of cartographers in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

is possible but has not been established. In 1636 Willem visited Danzig in

. In 1641 he moved there from The Hague for good. Hondius was supported at the

royal court A royal court, often called simply a court when the royal context is clear, is an extended royal household in a monarchy, including all those who regularly attend on a monarch, or another central figure. Hence, the word "court" may also be appl ...

of King

Władysław IV Waza Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to: Famous people Mononym * W ...

. The King awarded him the title of ''Chalcographus privilegialus'' (privileged engraver) and ''Chalcographus Regius'' (Royal engraver). He was married twice, first in 1632 in The Hague to Kornelia van den Enden, secondly in 1646 in Danzig to Anna Mackensen, daughter of the Royal Goldsmith. In August 1651, in the wake of the Khmelnytsky Uprising, Hondius joined the army of Janusz Radziwiłł conquering Kiev. The first ever portrait of the famous Cossack leader Bohdan Khmelnytsky was engraved during this campaign. Nothing is known of Hondius after 1652, though he may have lived until 1658.

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1590s births 1650s deaths Dutch engravers Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Artists from The Hague 17th-century Dutch cartographers 17th-century cartographers People from Royal Prussia {{Netherlands-artist-stub