Abraham van Riebeeck (18 October 1653 – 17 November 1713) was a Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He was born in the Cape Colony in South Africa, and was the son of Jan van Riebeeck. One of Abraham's children was Johanna Maria van Riebeeck (1679–1759), who had married his predecessor Governor-General, Joan van Hoorn. After he finished his studies in the Netherlands in 1676, he entered the Dutch East India Company as a merchant.
From 1709 until his death in 1713, he was the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies. He was a keen explorer, who undertook several smaller and a few larger voyages in the Indies.
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“The legend of Felix is ended, the toiling of Felix is done;
The Master has paid him his wages, the goal of his journey is won;
He rests, but he never is idle; a thousand years pass like a day,
In the glad surprise of Paradise where work is sweeter than play.”
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