Willem Ysbrandtsz. Bontekoe

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Willem Ysbrandtszoon Bontekoe (June 2, 1587-1657) was a skipper in the Dutch East India Company (VOC), who made only one voyage for the company (1618-1625). He became widely known because of the journal of his adventures that was published in 1646 under the title Journael ofte gedenckwaerdige beschrijvinge van de Oost-Indische reyse van Willem Ysbrantsz. Bontekoe van Hoorn, begrijpende veel wonderlijcke en gevaerlijcke saecken hem daer in wedervaren.

[edit] Life

Bontekoe was born in Hoorn in Holland on June 2, 1587. In 1607, at the age of twenty Bontekoe succeeded his father as captain of the ship Bontekoe. Ten years later, in 1617, the ship was robbed and Bontekoe ended up at a slave market. He was bought free, but his ship was lost.

In 1618 Bontekoe enlisted in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Bontekoe set out from his home port of Hoorn on December 28, 1618. His destination was the town of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies; his ship was the Nieuw Hoorn, an East-Indiaman (i.e. an armed merchant ship). After having put in at Cape Town, the ship sailed alone through the Indian Ocean. An accidental fire caused the gunpowder magazine to explode and sank the ship. The surviving crew and their wounded captain continued towards Batavia in two lifeboats. After a grueling journey, including an attack by hostile natives on Sumatra, they reached Bantam on Java. Bontekoe was given a new command and an order to harass the Chinese coast.

In 1625 Bontekoe returned to Holland. After his return, Bontekoe settled down in Hoorn to live a quiet life. On March 1, 1626 Bontekoe married with Eeltje Bruijnes. He is then 38 years old. Bontekoe died in 1657.

[edit] Legacy

He would have been forgotten had he not related his story to a publisher. The adventurous yarn, illustrated with etchings, was a bestseller in the 17th and 18th centuries and later became the basis of a very popular children's book by author Johan Fabricius, De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe (1923), which is currently being filmed (release date 2007).