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Naporra's Omweg
The life of a Dutch East India Company sailor (1731-1793)
In 1757, Georg Naporra began chronicling his life, which produced a unique document. The first part of Naporra’s hand-written autobiography, covering his youth and his life as a sailor in the service of the Dutch East India Company, was discovered a few years ago by the historian, Roelof van Gelder, in the Rotterdam Maritime Museum. The detailed descriptions provide a probing look into life on board an East Indiaman, seen through the eyes of a crewmember.
Naporra was just twenty-five, but he had already seen more than most people in an entire lifetime. Born into a free farming family in East Prussia, he had left for Amsterdam and joined the East India Company. He had sailed to the Dutch East Indies and, unlike many of his comrades, had survived both the outbound and the homeward voyage.
Based on Naporra’s life story, embellished with information from numerous other sources, in Naporra’s omweg Van Gelder reconstructs the task division on board, the sickness and dangers that threatened the crew and the mutual relationships between officers and men. Naporra was an accurate observer and even noted down the complete week’s menu served to the crew. He is discrete about the regular incidence of sodomy, but Van Gelder even succeeds in describing the scope of this phenomenon and the strict punishments it carried.
Like many another seaman, Georg Naporra continually cursed his lot in life. How someone nevertheless ends up joining the merchant navy is described in the first part of Naporra’s chronicle. Superfluous on his father’s farm, too good for the life of a lackey and a failure as a merchant’s assistant, he is seduced by the mystery of the Orient and the promise of getting rich quick.
He finally succeeded in the latter. Naporra ends up in Danzig as a well-to-do merchant, probably trading in spices. For the last part of the story, Van Gelder could not draw on Naporra’s autobiography, as the second part is still missing. Thanks to his great knowledge of history, local research and, above all, his lively pen, he still manages to steep the reader in the rich details of his later life. In this book, Naporra’s voice from the past sounds as if he is recounting his own life story to us personally.
In 1757, Georg Naporra began chronicling his life, which produced a unique document. The first part of Naporra’s hand-written autobiography, covering his youth and his life as a sailor in the service of the Dutch East India Company, was discovered a few years ago by the historian, Roelof van Gelder, in the Rotterdam Maritime Museum. The detailed descriptions provide a probing look into life on board an East Indiaman, seen through the eyes of a crewmember.
Naporra was just twenty-five, but he had already seen more than most people in an entire lifetime. Born into a free farming family in East Prussia, he had left for Amsterdam and joined the East India Company. He had sailed to the Dutch East Indies and, unlike many of his comrades, had survived both the outbound and the homeward voyage.
Based on Naporra’s life story, embellished with information from numerous other sources, in Naporra’s omweg Van Gelder reconstructs the task division on board, the sickness and dangers that threatened the crew and the mutual relationships between officers and men. Naporra was an accurate observer and even noted down the complete week’s menu served to the crew. He is discrete about the regular incidence of sodomy, but Van Gelder even succeeds in describing the scope of this phenomenon and the strict punishments it carried.
Like many another seaman, Georg Naporra continually cursed his lot in life. How someone nevertheless ends up joining the merchant navy is described in the first part of Naporra’s chronicle. Superfluous on his father’s farm, too good for the life of a lackey and a failure as a merchant’s assistant, he is seduced by the mystery of the Orient and the promise of getting rich quick.
He finally succeeded in the latter. Naporra ends up in Danzig as a well-to-do merchant, probably trading in spices. For the last part of the story, Van Gelder could not draw on Naporra’s autobiography, as the second part is still missing. Thanks to his great knowledge of history, local research and, above all, his lively pen, he still manages to steep the reader in the rich details of his later life. In this book, Naporra’s voice from the past sounds as if he is recounting his own life story to us personally.
525 pages, hardcover
First published January 1, 2003
24 people want to read
About the author
Roelof van Gelder
12 books2 followersGeboren in 1948 in Bergen (NH); Gymnasium bêta in Alkmaar, studie geologie en geschiedenis in Amsterdam; redacteur de Bosmier, Interpres en Propria Cures; leraar; vanaf 1978 vast medewerker van de kunstredactie van NRC Handelsblad; redacteur sinds 1991; vanaf 1993 bij de bijlage Boeken. Werkte mee aan verschillende historische tentoonstellingen, schreef artikelen en boeken over Amsterdam, de VOC, reizen en de geschiedenis van het verzamelen. Promoveerde in 1997 op "Het Oost-Indisch avontuur". In 2001 gastonderzoeker aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Publiceerde in 2002 met V. Roeper "In dienst van de Compagnie. Leven bij de VOC in honderd getuigenissen (1602-1799)" en in 2003 "Naporra's omweg. Het leven van een VOC-matroos (1731-1793)". Deed in 2005 een half jaar onderzoek in The National Archives in Londen naar Nederlandse brieven uit de vroegmoderne tijd. In september 2008 verschijnt "Zeepost. Nooit bezorgde brieven uit de 17de en 18de eeuw".
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 6, 2021
Van Gelder deed een mooie ontdekking in de archieven: een Duits handschrift van iemand uit Pruisen, ene Georg Naporra, die in de 18de eeuw naar Amsterdam reisde en dienst nam bij de VOC en naar Azië voer. Van Gelder pluiste alles uit met uitgebreide research, daarin gesteund door zijn grote ervaring als historicus op dit gebied. Het resultaat is een zeer interessant en leesbaar verhaal over het dagelijks leven van een matroos aan boord van een VOC schip (avontuurlijk maar heel erg zwaar). Je waant jezelf aan boord en ruikt het hout en het zeewater. Het boek voegt zeer waardevolle menselijk details toe aan de boeken over de VOC, die, hoe interessant ze ook zijn, meestal de 'grote geschiedenis' ervan beschrijven.
October 6, 2024
Super super good book, don't need to read past end of his diary/return to Amsterdam (that's the best part)
March 7, 2012
Spannend, informatief (degelijk onderzoek) en mooi geschreven zonder te overdrijven. Ook aan te raden voor de geïnteresseerde leek.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews