Jacob Roggeveen

2025-09-05T15:38:57Z

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{{Short description|Dutch explorer of the Pacific Ocean (1659–1729)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jacob Roggeveen
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1659|02|01|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1729|01|31|1659|02|01|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]]
| death_cause =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates =
| nationality = Dutch
| other_names = Roggewein, Commodore
| known_for =
| education = [[University of Harderwijk]]
| employer = [[Dutch West India Company]]
| occupation =
| title =
| spouse = Marija Margaerita Vincentius, Anna Adriana Clement
| children =
| parents = Arend Roggeveen, Maria Storm
| relatives =
| signature =
| website =
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}}

'''Jacob Roggeveen''' (1 February 1659 – 31 January 1729) was a [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] explorer who was sent to find [[Terra Australis]] and [[Davis Land]],<ref>{{cite book |last1=P. Paine |first1=Lincoln |title=Ships of Discovery and Exploration |date=2000 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=9780547561639 |page=30 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FKHnKRLZxggC&pg=PT30 |access-date=15 September 2021}}</ref> but instead found [[Easter Island]] (called so because he landed there on Easter Sunday). Jacob Roggeveen was the first European to find [[Bora Bora]] and [[Maupiti]] of the [[Society Islands]], as well as [[Samoa]]. He planned the expedition along with his brother Jan Roggeveen, who stayed in the Netherlands.<ref name=libweb>{{cite web |url=http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/roggeveen/roggeveen.html |title=Jacob Roggeveen |publisher=Libweb5.princeton.edu |access-date=18 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007040140/http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/roggeveen/roggeveen.html |archive-date=7 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Early career==
[[File:Arent Roggeveen.png|thumb|Arend Roggeveen, the father of Jacob]]
His father, Arend Roggeveen, was a [[mathematician]] with much knowledge of [[astronomy]], [[geography]], rhetorics, philosophy, and the theory of [[navigation]] as well. He occupied himself with study of the mythical Terra Australis, and even got a patent for an exploratory excursion,<ref name=libweb/> but it was to be his son who, at the age of 62, eventually equipped three ships and made the expedition.

He became [[Civil law notary|notary]] of [[Middelburg, Zeeland|Middelburg]] (the capital of the province of [[Zeeland]], where he was born). On the 12th of August 1690, he graduated as a doctor of the law at the [[University of Harderwijk]]. About this time he married Marija Margaerita Vincentius. She died around 3 to 4 years later in October 1694. In 1706, he joined the [[Dutch East Indies Company]] (VOC), and between 1707 and 1714 worked as a ''Raadsheer van Justitie'' ("Council Lord of Justice") at [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies]] (now [[Jakarta]]). He married Anna Adriana Clement there, but she died soon afterward. In 1714, he returned to Middelburg by himself.

He became involved in religious controversies, supporting the liberal [[preacher]] Pontiaan van Hattem by publishing his leaflet ''De val van 's werelds afgod'' (The fall of the world's idol). The first part appeared in 1718 in Middelburg, and was subsequently confiscated by the city council and burned. Roggeveen fled from Middelburg to nearby [[Vlissingen|Flushing]]. Thereafter he established himself in the small town of [[Arnemuiden]], and published parts 2 and 3 of the series, again raising a controversy.

==Explorations==
[[File:Roggeveen voyage.jpg|thumb|300px|Roggeveen's itinerary]]
On the 1st of August 1721 he headed an expedition sponsored by the [[Dutch West India Company]], the rivals of the [[Dutch East India Company|VOC]], to seek Terra Australis and to open a western trade route to the [[Maluku Islands|"Spice islands"]] in the East Indies.<ref name=Quanchi>Quanchi, ''Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands'', page 217</ref> His fleet consisted of three ships, the ''Arend'', the ''Thienhoven'', and ''Afrikaansche Galey'' and had 223 men on crew.

[[File:Samoa $1 1972 Jacob Roggeveen.jpg|thumb|left|Samoan Commemorative Coin 250 Years Discovery of Samoa by the Dutch Captain Jacob Roggeveen]]
Roggeveen first sailed down to the [[Falkland Islands]] (which he renamed "Belgia Australis"), passed through the [[Strait of Le Maire]], and continued south to beyond [[60th parallel south|60 degrees south]] to enter the [[Pacific Ocean]]. He made landfall near [[Valdivia, Chile]]. He visited the [[Juan Fernández Islands]], where he spent 24 February to 17 March. The expedition later arrived at [[Easter Island]] (Rapa Nui) on [[Easter|Easter Sunday]], 5 April 1722<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chauvet-translation.com/easterisland.htm |title=Chauvet - Easter Island |publisher=Chauvet-translation.com |access-date=18 October 2012}}</ref> (whereupon he reported seeing 2,000–3,000 inhabitants). Roggeveen charted the location of six islands in the [[Tuamotu Archipelago]], two islands in the [[Society Islands]], and four islands in [[Samoa]], losing his flagship, ''Afrikaansche Galey'' at [[Takapoto]] atoll.<ref name= Quanchi/><ref name="Anne">{{cite book|last1=Salmond|first1=Anne|title=Aphrodite's Island|date=2010|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=9780520261143|pages=[https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/34 34]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/aphroditesisland00salm/page/34}}</ref> At [[Makatea]], he opened fire on a crowded beach in retaliation for a violent encounter with the inhabitants, and in return the Makateans ambushed a shore party, killing ten of his crewmen.<ref name= Quanchi/> The remaining two vessels sailed past [[New Guinea]] to reach [[Batavia, Dutch East Indies|Batavia]] in 1722, where he was arrested for violating the [[monopoly]] of the VOC and had his ships confiscated. After a lengthy lawsuit in the Netherlands, the VOC was later forced to compensate him for his losses and to pay his crew.<ref name= Quanchi/>

After his return, Roggeveen published part 4 of his work, ''De val van 's werelds afgod''.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*''The Journal of Jacob Roggeveen'', edited by Andrew Sharp, Oxford University Press, 1970
*''Who's Who in Pacific Navigation'', John Dunmore Melbourne University Press 1972
*{{cite book | last = Quanchi | first = Max| year = 2005 | title = Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands | publisher = The Scarecrow Press | isbn = 0810853957}}
* ''Extract from the Official log of Jacob Roggeveen'' reproduced in {{citation|title=The voyage of Don Felipe Gonzalez to Easter Island in 1770-1|editor=Bolton Glanville Corney|year=1908|page=3|publisher=Hakluyt Society|url=https://archive.org/stream/voyagecaptaindo00unkngoog#page/n88/mode/2up|access-date=13 January 2013}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20161007040140/http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/maps/websites/pacific/roggeveen/roggeveen.html Libweb5.princeton.edu]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roggeveen, Jakob}}
[[Category:1659 births]]
[[Category:1729 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century Dutch explorers]]
[[Category:18th-century Dutch explorers]]
[[Category:Dutch explorers of the Pacific]]
[[Category:Explorers of Chile]]
[[Category:Explorers of South America]]
[[Category:Sailors on ships of the Dutch West India Company]]
[[Category:People from Middelburg, Zeeland]]
[[Category:University of Harderwijk alumni]]

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Jacob Roggeveen