Jan Karel van den Broek facts for kids

Jan Karel van den Broek (born April 4, 1814, in Herwijnen, Gelderland, Netherlands – died May 23, 1865) was a Dutch doctor. He worked in Nagasaki, Japan, during a special time known as the Bakumatsu period. While in Japan, he taught medicine, chemistry, and even photography for a short time.

A Doctor's Journey

Early Years and Education

Jan Karel van den Broek was born in a town called Herwijnen in the Netherlands. After he finished his medical studies in Rotterdam, he started working as a doctor in Arnhem in 1837. He was a very active member of a science club there. He gave many talks and showed experiments to the club members. He also organized classes for the public to learn new things.

In 1852, he surprised his friends by deciding to move to the Dutch East Indies (which is now Indonesia). Before he left, the University of Groningen gave him a special honorary doctorate. This was to honor his important research on the human ear.

Life in Japan

When he arrived in the Dutch East Indies, he worked as a doctor for a short time in Cirebon, on the island of Java. After that, he was sent to Dejima. This was a special trading post for the Dutch in Japan. He arrived there on August 1, 1853.

For a long time, since the 1600s, Japan's government (called the Tokugawa shogunate) had a rule to keep the country closed off. This rule was called sakoku, meaning "closed country." They wanted to avoid outside influences. Foreign trade was only allowed with the Dutch and the Chinese, and only in Nagasaki.

However, by the early 1800s, this rule was becoming harder to keep. American ships, known as the "Black ships" from the Perry Expedition, arrived in Japan. This made the Japanese government worried about their country's safety. So, they started to ask the Dutch for help with new technology and military advice. For example, the Nagasaki Naval Training Center opened in 1855. Dutch military experts taught the Japanese about steam warships there.

Helping Japan Modernize

Soon, Van den Broek realized that people in Japan didn't need his medical help as much as they needed his help with technology. He became very busy helping the Japanese with many different things. He helped them build iron factories and special furnaces. He also helped with shipbuilding and making steam engines. He even taught them how to make chemicals like sulphuric acid.

In December 1854, he started working on a Japanese-Dutch and Dutch-Japanese dictionary. This huge project kept him busy until the end of his life.

Teaching New Skills

In 1856, the Japanese government asked him to teach photography to their students. Some of his students included Furukawa Shumpei and Yoshio Keisai.

In 1857, he was sent back to Batavia (now Jakarta) by the Dutch Commissioner for Japan, Janus Henricus Donker Curtius. The Commissioner had developed a strong dislike for the doctor. Van den Broek returned to the Netherlands in 1859. He worked to clear his name from the accusations made by Donker Curtius, and he succeeded in 1859. Dr. Van den Broek passed away in Apeldoorn on May 23, 1865.

What He Left Behind

Jan Karel van den Broek's important papers and the draft of his dictionary are kept safe at the Municipal Library of Arnhem. His official letters are stored in the Netherlands National Archives in The Hague.