- 1694, Amsterdam

Amsterdam

Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

), Dutch traveller and author.

Elizabeth van der Woude left Holland with her family (father Harman van der Woude, her brother and sister and 50 servants) bound for Guinea

Guinea

Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...

at the age of 21. Her father and sister died en route. She and her brother found good land when they arrived, but soon most of the servants had died of a strange sicknesses and Elizabeth returned home. During that journey she was kidnapped by pirates and kept as a prisoner for some weeks. She did manage to return home with her diary, which she had regularly kept.

The diary was published 2001 in Holland.

Literature

• Kim Isolde Muller (Ed.): Elisabeth van der Woude: Memorije van 't geen bij mijn tijt is voorgevallen : met het opzienbarende verslag van haar reis naar de Wilde Kust 1676-1677. Terra Incognita : Amsterdam, 2001, ISBN 90-73853-13-3

• Milbry Polk, Mary Tiegreen: Women of Discovery - A Celebration of intrepid Women who explored the World. Clarkson Potter : New York, 2001. ISBN 0609604805