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
This article lists the colonial governors of the Dutch Gold Coast. During the Dutch presence on the Gold Coast, which lasted from 1598 to 1872, the title of the head of the colonial government changed several times:
*1675–1798: Director-General ...
, 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
Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...
from
Geleen
Geleen (; li, Gelaen ) is a city in the southern part of the province of 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 Geleenbeek, a right tributa ...
, his mother Geertje Lamberts a housewife.
Valckenburgh became a commissioner in food supplies in
Luanda
Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...
in 1643 and returned to Amsterdam in 1649, after the
recapture of Luanda
The Recapture of Angola, or Reconquest of Angola, was a military campaign fought between the Portuguese and the Dutch occupiers of Angola. Its most important episode was the siege imposed by the Portuguese on the far larger Dutch garrison of ...
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
** Port ...
. It is likely that he married the same year to Dina Lems from 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, is a town and the capital of the Komenda/Edina/Eguafo/Abirem District on the south coast of Ghana in the Central Region, situated on a bay on the Atlantic Ocean, west of Cape Coast. Elmina was ...
, 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 ...
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; bloo ...
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
Daniel Vertangen (1601, Amsterdam – ca.1683, Amsterdam), was a Dutch Golden Age painter.
Biography
According to Houbraken he was a pupil of Cornelis van Poelenburch. 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 Fra ...
has been identified since as well. He is painted with a black house slave and with
Fort Elmina
Elmina Castle was erected by the Portuguese in 1482 as Castelo de São Jorge da Mina (''St. George of the Mine Castle''), also known as ''Castelo da Mina'' or simply ''Mina'' (or ''Feitoria da Mina''), in present-day Elmina, Ghana (formerly the ...
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 Sted ...