Roelof Diodati

Mauritius

Roelof Diodati (Dordrecht, 28 July 1658 – Batavia, 10 March 1723) was a governor of Dutch Mauritius in the late 17th century.

Life

Diodati was from Swiss-Italian descent. His grandfather was Jean Diodati, a theologian, who translated the Bible in Italian. His father, born in Geneva, became a pastor of the Walloon church in Leiden in 1651.^[1]

It is not obvious Rodolfo Diodati was one of a twin.^[2] Both brothers took service at the Dutch East India Company. He became an accountant at the Cape from 1686 and then a merchant. He was appointed as governor of Mauritius from 1692-1703. In 1693 he had to deal with François Leguat.^[3] In 1695, a big hurricane devastated the island, several of the Burghers lost all theirs crops, many left the island.^[4]

Diodati seems to have been appointed in Suratte. Then he shifted to Batavia and he became a merchant and accountant on 4 January 1707. In 1709 he married Catharina Zaaiman, born on Dutch Mauritius. Her grandmother was Eva, a Khoikhoi interpreter for Jan van Riebeeck.^[5]

Diodati became opperhoofd at the VOC post at Dejima Japan on 31 May 1720 and died in Batavia 10 March 1723.

Notes

References

• Allister Macmillan, Mauritius illustrated: historical and descriptive, commercial and industrial facts, figures, and resources., London : W.H. & L. Collingridge, 1914