Simon van der Stel

Simon van der Stel was a commander and the first Governor of the Cape Colony, the Dutch settlement at the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa known for his development of the South African wine industry.

Born in Mauritius as the son of Adrian van der Stel, an official of the Dutch East India Company, and Maria Lievens, the daughter of a freed Indian slave woman, Simon was raised in Batavia, a colony in Java from where he moved to the Netherlands in 1659.

In 1679 der Stel was appointed by the Dutch East India Company as the commander of the Cape Colony in South Africa and was sent to Africa. He became deeply devoted to the expansion of the colony by founding the town of Stellenbosch and winemaking farm of Groot Constantia. Winemaking was a profitable enterprise as it was required by the ship’s crew sailing between Europe and Asia. He was also interested in improvement of farming in the colony with the help of farming skills of the French Huguenot farmers which he brought to Africa.

In 1691 der Stel was promoted to the position of Governor, and held that post for the next eight years when he was succeeded by his son, Willem Adriaan van der Stel. He remained in Africa until his death in 1712.

His estate at Constantia on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain was the first wine estate whose products were marketed as such in Europe even preceding those of Bordeaux.