Francisco Pelsaert

, Also called François Pelsaert Francisco Pelsaert and Francoys Pelsert, (* 1590 in Antwerp, † September 1630 in Jakarta ) was a native of the former Spanish Netherlands merchant and sailors.

Life

1618 Pelsaert entered the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC ), one of the then leading trading communities. In less than ten years, he achieved the status of " top trader " (senior merchant ).

He was especially famous for his involvement in connection with the wreck of the Batavia: Under Pelsaert as commander resigned in October 1628, the VOC - merchantman Batavia a crossing of Texel after today's Jakarta (then Batavia ) on. The more than 300 people and valuable trade goods fully occupied Sailboat aground on 4 June 1629 in a reef in the Western Australian Wallabi Islands. Up to 40 people who drowned in the sinking, all other crew members, military personnel and passengers were able to save on small uninhabited islands nearby. As a rescue retired by third parties, Pelsaert sailed, accompanied by the highest-ranking officers and some sailors of Batavia with a dinghy from the crash site to Batavia (now Jakarta ), where he arrived after about a month. There he received from the V.O.C. a new ship, the Sardam to return to rescue the stranded and salvage the trade goods of Batavia. Due to bad weather conditions took the return trip to the Wallabi Islands for 60 days. As Pelsaert mid September 1629 started off the crash site, he found that in the meantime a mutiny had taken place. A small group of Batavia crew under the leadership of Jerome Cornelisz had killed over 120 of the castaways. Pelsaert let the leader of the mutiny on the spot hang and suspend two mutineers on the west coast of Australia, before returning with the survivors and the recovered merchandise Batavia to Jakarta.

After the end of the " Batavia tragedy," which his health was severely attacked, Francisco Pelsaert still took part in an expedition to Sumatra. He died after a long illness in September 1630 in Jakarta ( Batavia ).

After Pelsaert is the southernmost group of the Houtman Abrolhos Archipelago, which Pelsaert islands to the main island Pelsaert Iceland named.

Works

• " Ongeluckige voyagie, van't schip Batavia, nae de Oost- India ... ", Amsterdam 1647th ( Known as Pelsaert Journal. )