Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater

Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater
pen drawing, likely of Overtwater
9th Governor of Formosa
In office 1646–1649
Preceded by	François Caron
Succeeded by	Nicolas Verburg
Personal details
Born	c. 1610 Hoorn, Dutch Republic
Died	28 or 29 April 1682 Batavia, Dutch East Indies

Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater, also known as Anthonisz. or over 't Water (c. 1610 – 28 or 29 April 1682), was a merchant/trader and official of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie or VOC).^[1]

Career

Overtwater joined the VOC in 1640. Before this, he was a conrector of a school in Hoorn and had no commercial experience.^[2]

He was the Dutch opperhoofd at Dejima in Japan from October 1642 to August 1643,^[1] and again from November 1644 to November 1645.^[3] He proposed to start a new factorij in the north of Japan, an unacceptable proposal for the Japanese interpreter, who refused to translate it. The Japanese however were interested to learn how to use a mortar, but Overtwater was not very willing to explain.

He was Governor of Formosa from 1646 to 1649 and criticized.^[4] The east coast of Formosa was left by the company, being unprofitable and dangerous.

He was stationed in Ceylon and in 1666 in the Cape colony, where he proposed that children of Malabar slaves could be baptized.^[5] In 1677 he was fired as an extraordinary council in Batavia, being accused of corruption or unfair trade.^[6]

See also

• VOC Opperhoofden in Japan

References

1. Historigraphical Institute (Shiryō hensan-jo), University of Tokyo, "Diary of Pieter Anthonisz Overtwater"; retrieved 2013-2-4.
2. Hesselink, Reiner H. (2002). Prisoners from Nambu: Reality and Make-Believe in Seventeenth-Century Japanese Diplomacy, p. 130.
3. Shiryō, "Diary of Pieter Anthonisz Overtwater"; retrieved 2013-2-1.
4. Andrade, Tonio. (2008). How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century, "Appendix B: Governors-General, Governors, and Missionaries"; retrieved 2013-2-4.
5. http://databases.tanap.net/cgh/main.cfm?artikelid=20964&zoekwoord=1666
6. Gaastra, F.S. (1985) "Constantijn Ranst en de corruptie onder het personeel van de VOC te Bengalen, 1669 - 1673," p. 126-127; in Groenveld, S., M.E.H.N. Mout, I. Schoffer, Bestuurders en geleerden: opstellen over onderwerpen uit de Nederlandse geschiedenis van de zestiende, zeventiende en achttiende eeuw, aangeboden aan Prof. Dr. J.J. Woltjer bij zijn afscheid als hoogleraar van de Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden Amsterdam.