Peter Stuyvesant

Peter Stuyvesant served as the last Dutch DirectorGeneral of the colony of New Netherland from 1647 until it was ceded provisionally to the English in 1664, after which it was renamed New York. He was a major figure in the early history of New York City.

Stuyvesant was born around 1612 in Peperga, Friesland, in the Netherlands, to minister Balthasar Stuyvesant and Margaretha Hardenstein. He grew up in Peperga, Scherpenzeel, and Berlicum. He studied languages and philosophy in Franeker, and joined the West India Company about 1635, and was director of the Dutch West India Companys colony of Curaao from 1642 to 1644.

Source: Wikipedia