Frederick Coyett

Frederick Coyett (zh-tpp|t=揆一|p=Kuíyī|poj=Kûi-it), born in Stockholm in 1615?, died in the Netherlands, October 17, 1687, Swedish nobleman and the last colonial governor for the Dutch colony of Formosa.

Name

In common with many people of the time, Coyett's name was spelled differently at different times and by different people. Frederick could also be Fredrik or Fredrick, and Coyett was also spelled Coyet.

Governor of Formosa

Coyett is mostly known as the last Dutch East India Company (Dutch: Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC) governor of Taiwan, of Swedish origin. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and worked for the Dutch East India Company. He was the first Swede to travel to Japan and China and briefly governor of Dutch-occupied Taiwan (1656-1662).

He was forced to surrender Fort Zeelandia and leave Taiwan for Batavia in 1662 after a nine-month siege from a large Chinese force under Koxinga. He was tried for losing Taiwan and exiled to the Banda Islands for twelve years before he was pardoned.

Published works

In 1675 he published "Neglected Formosa" (Dutch: 't Verwaerloosde Formosa). In the book he accused the Dutch East India Company of ignorance and refusing to send backup, which caused him to lose Taiwan.