Back ايساك لى ماير ARZ Isaac le Maire Catalan Isaac Le Maire German Isaac Le Maire French Isaac Le Maire ID Isaac le Maire Dutch Ле Мэр, Исаак Russian
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Isaac Le Maire (c. 1558 in Antwerp – September 20, 1624 in Egmond aan den Hoef) was a Dutch entrepreneur, investor, and a sizeable shareholder of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He is best known for his constant strife with the VOC, which ultimately led to the discovery of Cape Horn.
Isaac Le Maire[1] was born in 1558 or 1559 in Antwerp. He learned the trade from his merchant brother-in-law Jacques van de Walle. Isaac had four brothers, three of whom were merchants.[2] Already in 1584 he was registered in Antwerp as a wealthy grocer. At the time, he was also captain of the company of the Antwerp militia. He rented the house of Bourgognien Schilt, but in 1585 after the fall of Antwerp he fled to the northern Netherlands.
In 1585 he settled in Amsterdam. He was married in Antwerp to Maria Jacobsdr. Walraven and they had 22 children,[3] and one of them, his son Jacob, would go down in history as an explorer. In 1641 his son Maximiliaen became the first VOC chief of Dejima in Japan.
Initially, Isaac Le Maire was the largest shareholder in the VOC.
- ^ The name has many spelling variants, f.i. Lameer or Lemaire. In modern history only the name Le Maire "used.
- ^ Around 1600 Isaacs brother Pieter Le Maire was appointed agent for Isaac in Hamburg, together with Andries Silmer and Jacques Bernarts. David le Maire established himself in 1604 in Livorno, and when he died in 1617 he was replaced by Isaacs third brother, Solomon le Maire. Wijnroks pp. 254-255
- ^ Certificates of baptism, Amsterdam Municipal Archives.[permanent dead link] From the 22 children, approximately 8 died young. At his death, 9 children were registered in his last will. Schoorl pp. 176-177