Jan van Riebeeck

Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg on 21 April 1619, the son of a surgeon. He grew up in Schiedam, where he married a 19-year-old Maria de la Queillerie on 28 March 1649. She died in Malacca, now part of Malaysia, on 2 November 1664, at the age of 35. The couple had eight or nine children, most of whom did not survive infancy. Their son Abraham van Riebeeck, born at the Cape, later became Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. Employment in the VOC Joining the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie (VOC) (Dutch East India Company) in 1639, he served in several posts, including that of an assistant surgeon in the Batavia in the East Indies. coin commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Cape Town, and depicting Van Riebeeck's ship, the Drommedaris Van Riebeeck was requested by the Dutch East India Company to take command of the initial Dutch settlement in what would become South Africa and departed from Texel on 24 December 1651. He landed two ships (The Drommedaris and Goede Hoope) in Table Bay, at the future Cape Town site on 6 April 1652, and a third ship, the Reijger, on 7 April 1652. He was accompanied by 82 men and 8 women, including his wife Maria. This fort was replaced by the Castle of Good Hope, built between 1666 and 1679 after Van Riebeeck had left the Cape. Van Riebeeck was joined at the Cape by a fellow Culemborger Roelof de Man (1634–1663), who arrived in January 1654 on board the ship Naerden. Roelof came as the colony bookkeeper and was later promoted to second-in-charge. Van Riebeeck reported the first comet discovered from South Africa, C/1652 Y1, which was spotted on 17 December 1652. Some of these, including grapes, cereals, ground nuts, potatoes, apples, and citrus, had an important and lasting influence on the societies and economies of the region. In 1659, he established a vineyard in the Colony to produce red wine to combat scurvy. The daily diary entries kept throughout his time at the Cape (VOC policy) provided the basis for future exploration of the natural environment and its natural resources. Careful reading of his diaries indicates that some of his knowledge was learned from the indigenous peoples inhabiting the region. He died in Batavia (now renamed to Jakarta) on Java on 18 January 1677. == Legacy in South Africa ==

on Adderley Street in Cape Town. Sculpted by John Tweed, it was donated to the city by Cecil Rhodes in 1899. Jan van Riebeeck is of immense cultural and historical significance to South Africa, as he was in particular during the Apartheid era. Many Afrikaners view him as the founding father of their nation. Consequently, his image appeared ubiquitously on postage stamps and banknotes issued until 1994. An image used on currency notes after South Africa became a republic in 1961 was thought to be that of Van Riebeeck, but was instead of Bartholomew Vermuyden. Van Riebeeck's Day, also known as Founders' Day, was once celebrated on 6 April, but the holiday was cancelled by the African National Congress after the 1994 election. However, it is still celebrated in the Orania community in South Africa (an Afrikaner-only enclave). His image no longer appears on any official currency or stamps, but statues of him and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. The coat of arms of the city of Cape Town is based on the Van Riebeeck family coat of arms. Many South African towns and villages have streets named after him. Riebeek-Kasteel is one of the oldest towns in South Africa, situated 75 km from Cape Town in the Riebeek Valley together with its sister town Riebeek West. Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck is an Afrikaans high school in Cape Town. File:Jan van Riebeeck Coat of Arms.svg|Jan van Riebeeck's coat of arms, the basis of the coat of arms of Cape Town File:Coat of arms of Cape Town, South Africa.png|Coat of arms of Cape Town, with the arms of Jan van Riebeeck depicted in the shield File:Bartholomeus Vermuyden.png|The painting of Bartholomew Vermuyden, thought to be of Van Riebeeck instead, which was used on banknotes and coins File:Towns in South Africa named after Jan van Riebeeck.png|Towns and suburbs in South Africa named after Van Riebeeck. These include: Riebeek-Kasteel, Riebeek West, Riebeek East, Riebeeckstad and Van Riebeeck Park. == See also ==