Gustaaf Willem van Imhoff

Gustaaf Willem Baron van Imhoff (German Gustav Wilhelm Freiherr von Imhoff, born August 8, 1705 Leer ( Ostfriesland), † November 1, 1750 in Batavia ) was Governor-General of Dutch East Indies.

Career

Van Imhoff was on January 19, 1725 as Untercommis in the service of the Dutch East India Company to Batavia (now the Indonesian capital Jakarta ) and was in 1727 promoted to "first clerk ". In the same year he married Katharina Magdalena Huysmann.

In 1730 he held the office of Secretary to the Government of India in 1732 and the one " Extraordinary Council ". In 1732 he was sent to Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, sent to eliminate the induced by the officials of the company grievances.

During a stay in Sri Lanka in 1738 he had at his own expense in Colombo a catechism and a Bible printed in Sinhala language and distributed among the population. A stay at Malabar in 1739 gave him another opportunity to excel.

After a stay in Europe, where he traveled for reporting, in 1740 he returned with the rank of " Ordinary Council " back to Indonesia. Here he came into conflict with Adriaan Vackenier who became Governor General in 1737. The Chinese living in the country were planning an uprising in 1740 with the goal of bringing in possession of the island. Van Imhof to quell the rebellion by military force succeeded. Vackenier announced on 9 October 1740 command to massacre the Chinese population. During a Council meeting on December 6, 1740 Vackenier Van Imhoff and two other Councils had him arrested and brought to condemnation to Europe.

Van Imhoff arrived in Europe learned that he had been appointed by the " Assembly of Seventeen " in December 1740 to the Governor-General of Batavia. His thirteen- month stay, he used to draw up a representation of the states in the Dutch East Indies for the company.

As of May 1743 back to Batavia, he allowed the Chinese residents greater freedom in trade and expanded it to the Spanish possessions in America, especially Mexico, from. He also issued new police regulations and started to improve in military affairs.

After he was appointed in 1748 to the general of the infantry, he expanded in 1749, the territory of the company at large areas, as he had already done in 1747. He died suddenly on November 1, 1750 and was buried in the Dutch church.

Afterlife

According to him, several ships of the Koninklijke Maatschappij package Vaart were named. The last one was ingloriously known by its demise with German internees during the Second World War.