Henk J. den Heijer, born in The Hague, the Netherlands, in 1950. Ph.D. from Leiden University. Professor of Maritime History, Leiden University.
Fellow (1 February 2013 – 30 June 2013)
Dutch Atlantic Connections
As a member of the theme group “Dutch Atlantic Connections”, I intend to focus on three tasks. The first one is to discuss the draft version of the synthesis of the NWO project “Dutch Atlantic Connections”, written by Gert Oostindie and myself prior to the NIAS semester, with the other members of the theme group. The idea is to broaden the perspective of the provisional synthesis with the ideas of our colleagues and incorporate these in our revision. My second task is to write a contribution to the edited volume. The subject of this article will be the role of the West African port city of Elmina in the spread of anthropological, geographical and other knowledge of Africa to Europe. Last but not least I plan to finish a monograph about Elmina as an important Dutch nodal point in the Atlantic for the circulation of goods, people and ideas.
Selected Publications
H. den Heijer, De geschiedenis van de WIC (Zutphen 1994, new revised edition in 2002).
H. den Heijer, Goud, ivoor en slaven. Scheepvaart en handel van de Tweede Westindische Compagnie op Afrika, 1674-1740 (Zutphen 1997).
H. den Heijer, De VOC en de Beurs. De Verenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie als grondlegger van de eerste aandelenbeurs.The VOC and the Exchange. How the VOC laid the foundation for the world’s first stock exchange. (Amsterdam 2002).