Joan Maetsuycker (October 14, 1606, Amsterdam – January 24, 1678, Batavia) was Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1653 to 1678.
Maetsuycker studied law in Leuven, and was a lawyer first in The Hague, and later in Amsterdam. From 1636, he lived in the Dutch East Indies. In 1646 he became the first Dutch Governor-General of Ceylon, and seven years later, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He stayed on that post for 25 years, which is the longest period for any Governor-General. The Dutch colony in the Indies flourished under Maetsuycker. Under his rule, the Portuguese lost Ceylon (1658), the coast of Coromandel (1658) and Malabar (1663); Makassar was conquered (1667), the west coast of Sumatra was occupied, and the first expedition to the interior of Java was held.
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| Preceded by Carel Reyniersz |
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies 1653–1678 |
Succeeded by Rijckloff van Goens |
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| Preceded by Jan Thijssens Payart |
Dutch governors of Zeylan 1646–1650 |
Succeeded by Jacob van Kittensteyn |
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