Joan Huydecoper II

Who was Joan Huydecoper II?

Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen II was the eldest son of burgomaster Joan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen I and the brother-in-law of the collector Jan J. Hinlopen and the sheriff Jacob Boreel. He was mayor of Amsterdam for 13 terms between 1673 and 1693. Unlike most mayors, he did not live at the Golden Bend, but on Lauriergracht in the Jordaan, where Govaert Flinck, Johannes Lingelbach, Jurriaen Ovens, who painted his portrait, the art-dealer Gerrit van Uylenburgh en Melchior de Hondecoeter also lived.

When Huydecoper left on the Grand Tour in 1648 his father wanted to keep a firm grip on his 23-year-old son. He required him to be more studious, more thrifty, and demanded a complete list of names of the people with whom he associated. His father encouraged him to be thrifty and cut back on expenses. In 1655 he went with his father and Pieter de Graeff on a diplomatic mission to the Prince-elector Frederick William of Brandenburg. Back home Johan married his first cousin, Sophia Coymans, which tied another knot to that wealthy banker family. In 1660 he was invited twice by the Princess Royale for dinner; in September he went to Scheveningen to see her leaving. In 1660 Amalia of Solms-Braunfels and her daughters paid him a visit.