Nicolaes Witsen facts for kids
Nicolaes Witsen (born May 8, 1641 – died August 10, 1717) was an important Dutch leader. He served as the mayor of Amsterdam an amazing thirteen times between 1682 and 1706! He also helped manage the Dutch East India Company (VOC), a very powerful trading company.
In 1689, he was a special ambassador to the English court and became a member of the Royal Society, a famous group of scientists. When he wasn't busy with politics, Nicolaes was a cartographer (mapmaker) and wrote a lot about ships. His books are still important sources for understanding how Dutch ships were built in the 1600s. He was also an expert on Russia and was the first to describe places like Siberia and the Far East in his book Noord en Oost Tartarye (North and East Tartary).
Contents
Early Life and Travels
Nicolaes Witsen was born in Amsterdam into the important Witsen family. His father, Cornelis Jan Witsen, was also a mayor and managed the Dutch West India Company. In 1656, Nicolaes went to England with his father and even met the children of Oliver Cromwell, a famous English leader.
In 1664 and 1665, Nicolaes traveled to Moscovia (old Russia) with an ambassador named Jacob Boreel. They sailed to Riga and then traveled by land to Novgorod and Moscow. There, he met Andrew Vinius, who became a lifelong friend and sent him maps and interesting objects. They talked with Czar Alexis about trading tar, but they didn't reach an agreement. Witsen wrote in his diary that people in Russia at that time weren't very interested in art or science.
He also visited Patriarch Nikon, a religious leader, and took notes on how people worshipped icons. He was especially interested in saint Nicholas, who was his namesake and the patron saint of Amsterdam. Nicolaes studied law at Leiden University but became more interested in learning languages and making maps. He also traveled to Rome and Paris, where he met scientists like Melchisédech Thévenot. In 1674, he married Catherina Hochepied. Sadly, their four children did not live past childhood.
Shipbuilding Expertise
In 1671, Witsen wrote a book called "Aeloude and hedendaegsche Scheepsbouw en Bestier" (Old and Modern Shipbuilding and Management). This book quickly became the most important guide on how to build ships. Even famous scientists like Nicolas Steno read it!
The book describes a method of building ships called shell-first, where the outer shell is built before the inner frame. While the book can be a bit hard to read because of its old language and messy structure, it has many amazing pictures that Witsen drew himself.
His work was so good that it led to a friendship with Peter the Great, the Russian Czar. Peter wanted to make his navy stronger and more modern, like the navies in Western Europe. Witsen helped him by arranging for Russian warships to be built in Amsterdam shipyards. In return, Witsen helped negotiate a special agreement that guaranteed the Dutch would receive important goods like grain, wood, and tar from Russia.
In 1697, Witsen even organized a four-month training program for Czar Peter at the Dutch East India Company shipyards. During this time, Witsen took the Czar to meet famous people like the botanist and anatomist Frederik Ruysch.
Mapping the World: Cartography
After 20 years of studying, Witsen published the very first map of Siberia in 1690. This map showed the world from Novaya Zemlya all the way to China! Witsen had talked with the Czar about trade routes to Persia across the Caspian Sea and to China through Siberia.
In 1692, he published a large book called "Noord en Oost Tartarye" (North and East Tartary), which described Siberia and the areas around it. He used information from ancient writers, medieval Arabic scholars, and his own smart friends in Europe. A bigger and even more detailed version of the book came out in 1705 and was reprinted in 1785.
In this book, Witsen shared all the information Europeans had at the time about the northern and eastern parts of Europe and Asia. This included areas like the Volga region, Crimea, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Mongolia, Tibet, China, Korea, and even parts of Japan. For example, the book has lists of words from 900 Georgian words and 700 Kalmyk words. It also shows the writing systems of Tibetan, Manchu, and Mongolian languages. Witsen provided word lists and other details for more than 25 languages!
In 1692, Witsen received the diary of Maarten Gerritsz Vries, who had explored the coast of Sahkalin in 1643. Sadly, this diary was never seen again after Witsen received it.
Mayor, Collector, and Supporter of Science
In 1688, Witsen was asked many times to discuss William III's plan to cross to England. He had many doubts and wasn't sure what advice to give. William Bentinck, a close friend of William III, called Witsen "the most sensitive man in the world." After William III successfully went to England, Witsen traveled to London the next year to help Amsterdam get back the money it spent supporting the trip. William offered to make him a knight, but Witsen, being a modest person, said no.
From a young age, Witsen loved collecting interesting things from Siberia and artworks. His house on Herengracht in Amsterdam was filled with corals, lacquer, books, paintings, weapons, porcelain, insects, seashells, stuffed animals, and precious stones.
As mayor, he was a great supporter of arts and sciences. He kept in touch with German scholars like Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. He also wrote to Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, who was famous for discovering tiny creatures using his microscope. In 1698, Willem de Vlamingh gave Witsen two seashells from New Holland (Australia). Witsen, who had invested in de Vlamingh's journey, was a bit disappointed that the explorers were more interested in trading than exploring new lands.
Witsen also tried to bring coffee plants from Batavia (modern-day Jakarta) to South America through Amsterdam. A scientist named Boerhaave estimated that Witsen had collected more than 1500 paintings of plants, mostly from the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. These paintings became known as the Codex Witsenii.
Witsen also helped artists like Cornelis de Bruijn, who needed contacts in Egypt and Russia. It was probably Witsen who encouraged De Bruijn to draw pictures of Persepolis (an ancient city) to show to the Royal Society.
Many people dedicated their books to Witsen, showing how respected he was. These included books by Olfert Dapper, a book by the brother of Johan Nieuhof (which described Chinese shipbuilding), and a book by Jan van der Heyden about his invention of the fire hose. He also helped Maria Sybilla Merian publish her drawings of plants and insects from Surinam.
Witsen was also interested in different religions, including what he called "saint Confucius" and shamanism. He was friends with Balthasar Bekker, a minister famous for speaking out against witch-hunts.
Nicolaes Witsen died in Amsterdam and was buried near his country house, called "Tijdverdrijf" (which means "to pleasurably pass time"). Peter the Great was there when Witsen died and said he had lost a great friend. After Witsen's death, his notes were thought to be lost for a long time. His nephew, Nicolaes Witsen (II), inherited his library, but wasn't very interested in it. Many of the books were sold. Later, in 1886, it was discovered that copies of Nicolaes Witsen's diary and notes were kept in a library in Paris. About 300 years after his travels, his diary about his trip to Moscovy was finally published.
Works
- N. Witsen, Moskovische Reyse 1664–1665. Journaal en Aentekeningen (Published in 1966; Translated into Russian in 1996)
- N. Witsen, Aeloude en hedendaegsche scheepsbouw en bestier (1671)
- N. Witsen, Architectura navalis et regimen nauticum (second edition, 1690)
- N. Witsen, Noord en Oost Tartarye, Ofte Bondig Ontwerp Van eenig dier Landen en Volken Welke voormaels bekent zijn geweest. Beneffens verscheide tot noch toe onbekende, en meest nooit voorheen beschreve Tartersche en Nabuurige Gewesten, Landstreeken, Steden, Rivieren, en Plaetzen, in de Noorder en Oosterlykste Gedeelten Van Asia En Europa Verdeelt in twee Stukken, Met der zelviger Land-kaerten: mitsgaders, onderscheide Afbeeldingen van Steden, Drachten, enz. Zedert naeuwkeurig onderzoek van veele Jaren, door eigen ondervondinge ontworpen, beschreven, geteekent, en in 't licht gegeven (First print: Amsterdam, 1692; Second edition: Amsterdam, 1705. Reprinted in 1785)
See also
- Hunmin Jeongeum
- Sakha language
- Anna Maria Sibylla Merian
