Governor of Formosa

For other uses, see Governor of Taiwan (disambiguation).

Governor of Formosa Gouverneur van Formosa
Flag of the Dutch East India Company
Residence	Fort Zeelandia Tayouan, Formosa
Appointer	Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
Inaugural holder	Marten Sonk
Formation	1624

Fort Zeelandia, residence of the Governors of Formosa, Taiwan.

The Governor of Formosa (Dutch: Gouverneur van Formosa; Chinese: 台灣長官) was the head of government during the Dutch colonial period in Taiwan, which lasted from 1624 to 1662. Appointed by the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia (modern-day Jakarta, Indonesia), the Governor of Formosa was empowered to legislate, collect taxes, wage war and declare peace on behalf of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and therefore by extension the Dutch state.

The Governor's residence was in Fort Zeelandia on Tayouan (then an island, now the Anping District of Tainan City).

List of Governors

There were a total of twelve Governors during the Dutch colonial era. The man sometimes claimed as the thirteenth, Harmen Klenck van Odessen, was appointed by VOC Governor-General Joan Maetsuycker only to arrive off the coast of Tayouan during the Siege of Fort Zeelandia. Klenck refused to go ashore to take up his post despite being urged to by Frederick Coyett, the incumbent Governor, and finally left without ever setting foot on Formosa.

Governor	Term
Marten Sonk	1624–1625
Gerard Frederikszoon de With	1625–1627
Pieter Nuyts	1627–1629
Hans Putmans	1629–1636
Johan van der Burg	1636–1640
Paulus Traudenius	1640–1643
Maximilian le Maire	1643–1644
François Caron	1644–1646
Pieter Anthoniszoon Overtwater	1646–1649
Nicolas Verburg	1649–1653
Cornelis Caesar	1653–1656
Frederick Coyett	1656–1662
1. ^ Died in office

See also

• Dutch Formosa
• Governor-General of Taiwan (1895–1945)
• Governor of Taiwan Province (1994–present)