Dirk van Hogendorp

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Diderik (Dirk) graaf van Hogendorp (October 3, 1761: Heenvliet - October 29, 1822: Rio de Janeiro) was the brother of Gijsbert Karel van Hogendorp and a Dutch soldier and statesman.

While in Java in the late 1700s, during a time period in which French liberalism flourished, he drafted and later published the report, commonly known as the Breicht, which in 1798/99 gained great circulation in the Netherlands. The report, which bears some similar ideas to the ideas of Abbe Raynal, later influenced the administrative policies of Sir Stamford Raffles after the British takeover of Java, probably through his contemporary Harman Muntinghe, who was also a great friend of Raffles. The Breicht argued for significant reforms of the regent system in place in Dutch Java, opposed slavery, and called for a more liberal system of government. However, he was forcibly removed from Java and his ideas were never fully implemented, although he later was able to attain a seat on the council for drafting a plan to rule Java during the reign of governor Daendels.