Hendrik Hamel

author

Hendrik Hamel

1630–1692

Best known as the Dutch sailor whose account introduced 17th-century Korea to many European readers, he survived a dramatic shipwreck and years of confinement before making his way home. His story blends travel, endurance, and one of the earliest detailed Western descriptions of Joseon Korea.

1 Audiobook

Verhaal van het vergaan van het jacht de Sperwer

Verhaal van het vergaan van het jacht de Sperwer

by Hendrik Hamel

About the author

Born in Gorinchem in 1630, Hendrik Hamel was a Dutch sailor and bookkeeper in the service of the Dutch East India Company. In 1653, the ship Sperwer was wrecked off the coast of Korea, and Hamel and other survivors were taken into the Joseon kingdom, where they were not allowed to leave.

After about thirteen years in Korea, Hamel and several companions escaped in 1666 and eventually reached the Dutch trading post at Nagasaki. Back in the Dutch Republic, he wrote the account now known as Hamel's Journal, which became one of the first widely known European descriptions of Korea and remains the reason he is remembered today.

His life has continued to attract interest in both the Netherlands and South Korea, where his long and unusual stay made him an important historical link between the two countries. He died in 1692, but his journal still stands as a vivid record of survival, observation, and cross-cultural encounter.