Hessel Gerritsz

Hessel Gerritsz was a Dutch cartographer in the service of the Dutch East India Company according to some “the most important cartographer of the seventeenth century”.

Little is known about his personal life. Born in northern Holland, he became an apprentice of Willem Janszoon Blaeu in 1602 who was the owner of the greatest of the cartographic publishing firms. Gerritsz who shared the same ambitions, opened in 1610 his own printing shop in Amsterdam.

On recommendation of Petrus Plancius Gerritsz was employed in 1617 as a chief cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. That appointment placed him in the center of Dutch international trade, and made him a crucial person in mapping of the new discoveries. Among his numerous achievements, making of the first coastal outline charts of Australia and the first great chart of the entire Pacific Ocean were of particular importance.

Before his death in 1632, Gerritsz undertake a journey to the west exploring Brazil and parts of the Caribbean.