RIEBEECK, Jan Anthonisz van

(1619–1677)

   Surgeon and pioneer. Van Riebeeck began his career in the service of the Dutch East India Company as a ship’s doctor and traveled to Batavia. After his dismissal because of forbidden private commerce, he settled as an in dependent merchant in Amsterdam. When the island of St. Helena proved to be a poor station for refreshing Indies-bound ships, van Riebeeck argued for the Cape of Good Hope as a viable alternative. The directors of the East India Company appointed him as a mer chant in their service and sent him to scout the Cape for opportuni ties. Van Riebeeck built a fortress and some houses, which consti tuted the beginnings of what would later become Cape Town. He founded the Cape Colony and remained there as governor-general until 1662. He then went to Melaka as commander and later to Batavia, where he died. The journal (Daghregister) of his political ac tivities was published in 1952 (in three volumes; also in English translation).