Governor of Formosa

Governor of Formosa
Gouverneur van Formosa

Residence Fort Zeelandia
Tayouan, Formosa
Appointer Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
Inaugural holder Marten Sonk
Formation 1624
Fort Zeelandia, residence of the Governors of Formosa, Taiwan.

The Governor of Formosa (Dutch: Gouverneur van Formosa; Chinese: 台灣長官) was the head of government during the Dutch colonial period in Taiwan, which lasted from 1624 to 1662. Appointed by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia), the Governor of Formosa was empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and therefore by extension the Dutch state.

The Governor's residence was in Fort Zeelandia 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.[1] The man sometimes claimed as the thirteenth, Harmen Klenck van Odessen, was appointed by VOC Governor-General Joan Maetsuycker only to arrive off the coast of Tayouan during the Siege of Fort Zeelandia. Klenck refused to go ashore to take up his post despite being urged to by Frederick Coyett, the incumbent Governor, and finally left without ever setting foot on Formosa.[1]

Governor Term
Marten Sonk1624–16251
Gerard Frederikszoon de With1625–1627
Pieter Nuyts1627–1629
Hans Putmans1629–1636
Johan van der Burg1636–16401
Paulus Traudenius1640–1643
Maximilian le Maire1643–1644
François Caron1644–1646
Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater1646–1649
Nicolas Verburg1649–1653
Cornelis Caesar1653–1656
Frederick Coyett1656–1662
1. ^ Died in office

See also

References

  1. 1 2 William Campbell (1903). Formosa under the Dutch: Described from Contemporary Records.
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