Kiliaen van Rensselaer

Kiliaen van Rensselaer was a Dutch diamond and pearl merchant from Amsterdam, who was one of the founders and directors of the Dutch West India Company, and an important person in the establishment of New Netherland.

Born in Amsterdam around 1586, Kiliaen began his career as an apprentice to his uncle, a successful jeweler. At that time, the diamond trade, often combined with another luxury item, the pearls, was a prosperous and highly profitable enterprise. By 1614, young Kiliaen emerged as a leading Amsterdam diamond and pearl merchant. He used his influence to promote and establish the West India Company, which was chartered in 1621 as a trading monopoly in Africa and America.

Van Rensselaer was one of the first patroons, that is, a landholder with manorial rights to large tracts of land in the Dutch oversea possessions. As a patron of Rensselaerswyck Manor, Kiliaen was the most successful among these early landowners, and it is believed that he originally suggested the introduction of the system of patroonships. Besides, Kiliaen was a keen supporter of the development of New Netherland’s agriculture in addition to his engagement in the lucrative fur trade.

Letters saved by the van Rensselaer family display that Kiliaen van Rensselaer actually never visited the New World in person.