Isaac Massa | |
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![]() Portrait by Frans Hals, 1626 | |
Born | October 7, 1586 |
Died | 1643 (aged 56–57) |
Nationality | Dutch |
Occupation(s) | merchant, diplomat, cartographer |
Known for | Embassy to Russia and memoirs of the Time of Troubles |
Spouse | Beatrix van der Laen |
Isaac Abrahamszoon Massa (baptized October 7, 1586, in Haarlem, died 1643)[1] was a Dutch grain trader, traveller and envoy to Russia. He wrote memoirs related to the Time of Troubles and created some of the earliest maps of Eastern Europe and Siberia. Due to Massa's experience in and knowledge of Russia, he was valued by the Dutch States-General as a counterweight to growing English influence in Russia in the early seventeenth century.[2] The Isaac Massa Foundation was established in his honor in Groningen. It aims to stimulate scientific and cultural contacts between the Russian Federation and the Netherlands.