Pieter van den Broecke

He was one of the first Europeans to describe societies in West and Central Africa and to comment in detail trade strategies along the African coast.

[2] His parents, Pieter van den Broecke Sr and Maiken de Morimont,[3] lived in Antwerp.

[4] Van den Broecke's Calvinist parents were among the many who chose to depart, arriving first at Alkmaar in the new Dutch Republic.

[citation needed] In 1611 he brought in a cargo of 29 tonnes (65,000 pounds) of ivory to Amsterdam from a captured Portuguese ship.

On his retirement he was honoured with a gold chain, which he wears in the portrait by his friend Frans Hals (now hanging in Kenwood House).