Nicolaes Witsen

Nicolaes Witsen was born in Amsterdam on 8 May 1641, the son of burgomaster Cornelis Jansz Witsen. He became one of the most versatile Amsterdammers of his century: administrator, diplomat, geographer and shipbuilding expert.

To Moscow

After taking his law doctorate at Leiden in 1664, he travelled to Russia with the envoy Jacob Boreel, by ship to Riga and then overland to Novgorod and Moscow. There he befriended Andrew Vinius, who kept sending him maps and objects for years. The journey shaped his life. In 1690 he published the first map of Siberia, from Novaya Zemlya to China, and in 1692 his book Noord en Oost Tartarye ("North and East Tartary"), with descriptions of peoples and word lists from more than 25 languages. In 1671 he had already published a classic study of Dutch shipbuilding.

Administrator and diplomat

Witsen joined the city council in 1671 and became an alderman in 1673. In 1672, the "Disaster Year" when France invaded, he fiercely opposed any deal with the French. In 1681 he led a commission that gave French Huguenots, Protestant refugees, citizenship and tax breaks, and thousands came to Amsterdam. Between 1682 and 1706 he served thirteen times as one of the city's four burgomasters. After William III crossed to England in 1688, Witsen went to London as special ambassador. He turned down a title offered by William. From 1693 he was also a director of the Dutch East India Company.

The tsar at the shipyard

In 1697 Tsar Peter the Great came to the Republic with a large embassy. Witsen arranged for him to work incognito in the VOC shipyards for four months, and afterwards kept advising him by letter. Peter was present when Witsen died on 10 August 1717 and is said to have remarked that he had lost a great friend. Witsen was buried at Egmond aan den Hoef. His motto was Labor omnia vincit: work conquers all.

In Amsterdam, the Nicolaas Witsenkade and Nicolaas Witsenstraat are named after him.