Governor of Formosa - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Governor of Formosa was the head of government during the Dutch colonial period

Taiwan under Dutch rule

Dutch Formosa refers to the period of colonial Dutch government on Formosa , lasting from 1624 to 1662. In the context of the Age of Discovery the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Taiwan to trade with China and Japan, and also to interdict Portuguese and Spanish trade and...

in Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, which lasted from 1624 to 1662. Appointed by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies

The Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies represented the Dutch rule in the Dutch East Indies between 1610 and Dutch recognition of the independence of Indonesia in 1949.The first Governors-General were appointed by the Dutch East India Company...

in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

), the Governor of Formosa was empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the Dutch East India Company

Dutch East India Company

The Dutch East India Company was a chartered company established in 1602, when the States-General of the Netherlands granted it a 21-year monopoly to carry out colonial activities in Asia...

(VOC) and therefore by extension the Dutch state

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

.

The Governor's residence was in Fort Zeelandia

Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)

Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, present day Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of it...

on Tayouan (then an island, now the Anping District of Tainan City).

List of Governors

There were a total of twelve Governors during the Dutch colonial era. The man sometimes claimed as the thirteenth, Harmen Klenck van Odessen, was appointed by VOC Governor-General Joan Maetsuycker

Joan Maetsuycker

Joan Maetsuycker was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1653 to 1678.Maetsuycker studied law in Leuven, and was a lawyer first in The Hague, and later in Amsterdam. From 1636, he lived in the Dutch East Indies...

only to arrive off the coast of Tayouan during the Siege of Fort Zeelandia

Siege of Fort Zeelandia

The Siege of Fort Zeelandia , which took place in 1661 and 1662, ended the Dutch East India Company's rule over Taiwan and began the Kingdom of Tungning's rule over the island...

. Klenck refused to go ashore to take up his post despite being urged to by Frederick Coyett

Frederick Coyett

Frederick Coyett , born in Stockholm or Moscow in 1615?, buried in Amsterdam, October 17, 1687, was a Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa...

, the incumbent Governor, and finally left without ever setting foot on Formosa.

Governor	Term
Marten Sonk	1624–1625
Gerard Frederikszoon de With Gerard Frederikszoon de With Gerard Frederikszoon de With was the second Dutch Governor of Formosa, from 1625 to 1627.-References:...	1625–1627
Pieter Nuyts Pieter Nuyts Pieter Nuyts or Nuijts was a Dutch explorer, diplomat, and politician.He was part of a landmark expedition of the Dutch East India Company in 1626–27, which mapped the southern coast of Australia. He became the Dutch ambassador to Japan in 1627, and he was appointed Governor of Formosa in the same...	1627–1629
Hans Putmans Hans Putmans Hans Putmans was a Dutch explorer.-History:Born in Middelburg, he was the fourth governor of Formosa, which later became known as Taiwan, from 1629–1636, and was based in the southern port of Tainan. While governor, Putmans was defeated at the Battle of Liaoluo Bay on October 22, 1633, by the Ming...	1629–1636
Johan van der Burg Johan van der Burg Johan van der Burg was the Dutch Governor of Formosa from 1636 to 1640. He died in office on 11 March 1640 and was buried at Fort Zeelandia.-References:...	1636–1640
Paulus Traudenius Paulus Traudenius Paulus Traudenius was the Dutch Governor of Formosa from 1640 to 1643.Traudenius was a descendant of a family of teachers in Gouda. His grandfather, also Paulus Traudenius, was in 1573 the first rector of the local Latin school after the reformation and had Latinized his original name Trudens to...	1640–1643
Maximilian le Maire	1643–1644
François Caron François Caron François Caron was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company for 30 years, rising from cabin boy to Director-General at Batavia , only one grade below Governor-General...	1644–1646
Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater Pieter Anthonisz Overtwater or over 't Water took service in 1640, before he was a conrector of a school in Hoorn and had no commercial experience. He was the Dutch opperhoofd at Dejima in Japan from October 1642 to August 1643, and again from November 1644 to November 1645...	1646–1649
Nicolas Verburg Nicolas Verburg Nicolas Verburg was the Dutch Governor of Formosa from 1649 to 1653.-References:...	1649–1653
Cornelis Caesar Cornelis Caesar Cornelis Caesar was a Dutch merchant and Dutch East India Company official, serving as Governor of Formosa from 1653 to 1656.-Early career:After joining the Dutch East India Company, Caesar arrived for his first position in Batavia in 1629...	1653–1656
Frederick Coyett Frederick Coyett Frederick Coyett , born in Stockholm or Moscow in 1615?, buried in Amsterdam, October 17, 1687, was a Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa...	1656–1662
1. Died in office

List of Governors

See also