Georg Friedrich Wreede

Who was Georg Friedrich Wreede?

Georg Friedrich Wreede or Georgius Fredericius Wreede was governor of Dutch Mauritius from 1665 to 1672, with a break between 1668-1669.

Wreede was born around 1635 in Uetze near Hannover, in Germany. In 1659 he arrived at Cape of Good Hope as an employee of the Dutch East India Company. He had been a student in Philology in Helmstedt and within four years of his arrival he had written a compendium using the Greek alphabet on Khoekhoegowab - then called Hottentot - consisting of sentences with Dutch translations. The "list" was sent to Amsterdam, but never published and has disappeared. Possibly it was sent to Hiob Ludolf, who was a famous linguist, and in contact with Nicolaes Witsen. Christian Juncker published Ludolf's biography with a list of Hottentots-Latin words.

In 1660 he took part in an expedition to the Olifants river. In February 1665 he was sent by Zacharias Wagenaer on an expedition to look if Martin Vaz could be used by ships, and returned in May with charts. The Pimpel went on to Mauritius and Wreede was appointed by the captain as the new governor. For three months the twelve men on the island had been without rice or brandy.