Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen

Joan Huydecoper was born in Amsterdam on 21 February 1625, son of the burgomaster of the same name who, with Cornelis de Graeff, launched the new city hall on Dam Square. His father kept him on a short leash: in 1648 he demanded a complete list of his son's friends and urged him to be thrifty.

Thirteen terms

Joan became one of the city's steady hands. From 1666 he was a director of the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in 1672 he became cashier of the Wisselbank, Amsterdam's exchange bank, and in 1681 a member of the Admiralty board. Between 1673 and 1693 he served thirteen times as one of the four burgomasters. He lived on Lauriergracht in the Jordaan and had a country house at Maarssen on the river Vecht.

In 1682 he and Jan Commelin took the initiative for a new medicinal garden in Amsterdam. Unlike the old herb garden at the city hospital, it also grew ornamental plants, making it a true botanical garden.

The diary

Huydecoper is especially fascinating because of the diary he kept for years. He recorded his pipes of tobacco, visits to his favourite tavern, presents, his children's upbringing and quarrels with his in-laws. In 1659 he refused to go on having Sunday dinner with his mother-in-law. In December 1676 he skated from Maarssen to Baambrugge and back. He visited Antonie van Leeuwenhoek in Delft and looked through his microscope.

The best story dates from 16 January 1698, when Huydecoper spent an evening with the Russian tsar Peter the Great. When he tried to leave, he was grabbed and brought back to the table. Seated between the tsar and his confidant Franz Lefort, he feared for his life.

He was painted by Jurriaen Ovens, and died in Amsterdam on 1 December 1704.