Jan Pranger
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Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Amsterdam, Dutch Republic
Jan Pranger | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Director-General of the Dutch Gold Coast | |
| In office 6 March 1730 – 13 March 1734 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Norre |
| Succeeded by | Antonius van Overbeke |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1700 Amsterdam, Dutch Republic |
| Died | April 13, 1773 (aged 72–73) Amsterdam, Dutch Republic |
| Spouse(s) | Elisabeth Oloff (m. 1736) Machteld Muilman (m. 1745) |
Jan Pranger (c. 1700 – 13 April 1773) was a Dutch merchant, slave trader and colonial administrator who served as the Director-General of the Dutch Gold Coast from 1730 to 1734. A portrait of him along with an enslaved servant by Dutch artist Frans van der Mijn in on display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.[1]
Jan Pranger was born c. 1700 in Amsterdam to Jan Pranger Sr., a Dutch wine merchant, and his wife Johanna van Eden. The family belonged to the middle class of the Dutch Republic. In 1720, Pranger was employed by the Dutch West India Company as an assistant to the Dutch merchants operating out of Elmina, one of the lowest administrative ranks available on the Dutch Gold Coast. He soon rose in prominence in the Gold Coast, and in 1724 was appointed the head of Fort Crèvecœur in Accra, an office which came with the rank of head merchant (Dutch: oppercommies) and an accession to the Colonial Council in Elmina.[2]
