Frederick Coyett

Frederick Coyett, born in Stockholm c. 1615 or 1620, 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). 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 that migrated from Brabant to Sweden in c. 1569. His father, a goldsmith, died in 1634 in Moscow. The prominent Swedish diplomat Peter Julius Coyet was his brother. From 1643 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.