Preceded by Cornelis Caesar Children Balthasar Coyett Name Frederick Coyett | Nationality Swedish Succeeded by none Books Neglected Formosa | |
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Spouse(s) Susanna Boudaens (1645–1656)
Helena de Sterke (1658–?) Died October 17, 1687, Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||
Frederick Coyett (Chinese: 揆一; pinyin: Kuíyī; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kûi-it), born in Stockholm c. 1615, buried in Amsterdam on 17 October 1687, was a Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa. He was the first Swede to travel to Japan and China and became the last governor of Dutch-occupied Taiwan (1656–1662).
Contents
Name
In common with many people of the time, Coyett's name was spelled differently at different times and by different people. Frederick could also be Fredrik or Fredrick, and Coyett was also spelled Coyet, Coignet or Coijet.
Early career
It is supposed Coyett was born in Stockholm, Sweden, in a family with Dutch/Flemish roots. His father, a goldsmith, died in 1634 in Moscow. Peter Julius Coyet was his brother. From 1647 (?) he worked for the Dutch East India Company. Coyett served twice as the VOC Opperhoofd in Japan, serving as the chief officer in Dejima first between 3 November 1647 and 9 December 1648 and then between 4 November 1652 and 10 November 1653.
Deshima
Frederick Coyett was the brother-in-law of François Caron, both involved in releasing ten Dutch prisoners. Their discussion centered on the Nambu affair of 1643, when the skipper Hendrick Cornelisz Schaep and nine members of the crew of the Breskens were captured in Yamada in Iwate Prefecture.
Governor of Formosa
Coyett is mostly known as the last Dutch East India Company ( Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC ) governor of Taiwan.
On 10 February 1662 he was forced to surrender Fort Zeelandia after a nine-month siege from a large Chinese force of 25,000 men and 1,000 ships under Koxinga. Coyett said that Chinese were "little better than poor specimens of very effeminate men", when he believed that there was no plan to invade Taiwan. The Dutch then changed their tune to "Formosa is lost." once the invasion was underway. With his army decisively crushed by the Chinese under Koxinga, Coyett left Taiwan after Siege of Fort Zeelandia with enough supply to reach Batavia. After three years imprisonment he was tried for High treason, due to his failure to hold Taiwan or preserve vital commercial interests. Coyett was pardoned and exiled to Rosengain, the most eastern of the Banda Islands, before he was released in 1674. In 1684 he bought a house on Keizersgracht, on a spot where the Hemony brothers used to have their foundry.
Coyett's son Balthasar Coyett, born to his first wife Susanna Boudaens in 1650, followed his father into service with the Dutch East India Company, eventually rising to become the Governor of Ambon.
Published works
In 1675 he published Neglected Formosa (Dutch: 't Verwaerloosde Formosa). In the book he accused the Dutch East India Company of ignorance and refusing to send backup, which caused him to lose Taiwan.