Krotoa (Goringhaikona) Meerhoff (abt. 1642 - 1674)

Born about 1642 in de Caep de Goede Hoop

Wife of Peter (Havgaard) van Meerhof — married 2 Jun 1664 in Fort, de Caep de Goede Hoop, Dutch Cape Colony

Descendants

Died 29 Jul 1674 at about age 32 in Robben Island, de Caep de Goede Hoop

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Biography

Name

Krotoa of the Goringhaicona ^[1][2] {also known as: "Eva Krotoa" / Eva (Krotoa) ^[1]} / Krotoa-Eva Goringhaiquas van Meerhof ^[3] / Eva of the Goringhaikona ^[4] / Eva (of the) Goringhaikona ^[5] Meerhoff ^[5] / Eva Goringhaicona ^[6] / Eva (Krotoa) van die Kaap ^[7] van Meerhof ^[7] / Eva van die Kaap (Krotoa) ^[8] / Krotoa Goringhaicona ^[9]

Robben Island

Birth

Date: Krotoa of the Goringhaicona was born about 1642 ^[7][4][5] / about 1643 ^[2][9] / about 1643/44. ^[3]

Place: Robben Eiland, Caap de Goede Hoop ^[2] / [Cape Town] ^[7] Cape of Good Hope ^[4], [South Africa] ^[5]

Baptism

Date:3 May 1662 ^[10]

Place: de Caep de Goede Hoop, Dutch Cape Colony^[10]

Meij anno 1662 ... Den 3:en d:o heeft dom:e Sijbelius wederom een predikatie gedaen, ende gedoopt een bejaarde vrous persoon de eerste van dese ingeborene lantsluiden, genaemt Hottentoos, is genaemt met den naem Eva de getuijen sijn Roelof de Man, ondercoopman, en tweede persoon van deser fortresse, en Pieter vander Stael kranckbesoeck:r mede van deser fortresse.^[10]

Marriage

Date: 2 June 1664: Krotoa, baptised Eva (age 21 years ^[11]) (c. 1643-1674) marries Peter Meerhoff (c. 1637-1668) from Copenhagen, Denmark. […] soldier, junior surgeon, chief surgeon, explorer, superintendent of Robben Island, trader. c. 1637: birth of Pieter Meerhoff at Copenhagen (also according to his will). She: 1643: birth at Robben Island [sic! - she was not born on the Island itself - see comment box and correspondence] of Krotoa belonging to Goringhaicona [Strandloper] clan; niece of Autshumao ^[12] (alias 'Harry the Strandloper'); niece of Eicouqua the Chainouqua; granddaughter of Heestkhema the Chainouqua; later sister-in-law to Goeboe (son of Chainouqua chief Sousoa) & thereafter Odasoa, chief of the Cochoqua (Saldanhars) [Note: possibly a daughter of a de jure Chainouqua (?) father & a Goringhaiqua mother - possibility that her de facto or biological father is European cannot be excluded] (interpreter, envoy, trader & informant; 1st baptised Cape aborigine to enter into a legal / institutionalised (mixed) marriage at the Cape of Good Hope). [Mansell Upham] ^[13][14]

"Today death (1 June 1700) of Willem ten Rhijne (1647-1700) ^[15] who briefly writes about his meeting with the Cape indigenes Eva Meerhoff (born Krotoa) & Cornelia ...

Thus I spoke with two Hottento ^[16] women, the one Aeva [sic - he means Cornelia], who being pretty well acquainted with the Dutch and Portuguese tongues, disclosed for me many secrets of this people […] the other Cornelia [sic - he means Aeva], she gave up her impious ignorance of religion for Christianity married a Dutch surgeon, and now lives a scandalous life, having been banished from the Fort; a third [woman] had the name of Sara, and she hanged herself in despair because a loose Dutchman, in order to have free enjoyment of her, promised her marriage but failed of his word. - An Account of the Cape of Good Hope and the Hottentotes, the Natives of that Country, (1704) ^[17][3] (Monday): Marriage at the Fort De Goede Hoop of Pieter Meerhoff (from Copenhagen, Denmark) & Eva, born Krotoa the Goringhaicona: ... It being the Second Pentecost, the surgeon, Pieter van Meerhoff, and the interpretress, Eva (born of Hottentoo parents, but afterwards reared in the house of Mr van Riebeeck), were married here in the hall, whereupon, according to the promise of the lately departed (16 April 1664) Commissioner, Dircq Steur [Dirck Janssen Steur who served in Burma [Myanmar] (1630s) & Coromandel [India] (1650s) visiting the Cape in the return fleet 1664 sailing on "Oranje"], a little marriage feast was given in the Commander's house [[[Wagenaer-1|Zacharias Wagenaer / Wagner]] (from Dresden)]. Steur sat (November 1656) on the Council of Justice at Batavia [Jakarta, Java, Indonesia] during the trial of private slave Catharina (Groote Catrijn) van Paliacatta for killing her slave lover Claes van Malabar ... he rose quickly in the VOC ranks: serving in Burma [Myanmar] (December 1635); junior merchant (ondercoopman) (1637); merchant (coopman) (1640); vice-president of Council of Justice (1650); raad extraordinaris of India (1651); active on the Coromandel Coast (November 1651) negotiating with the Moghul vizier at Golconda Mir Jumla II (1591-30 March 1663) (مير جملا), subahdar of Bengal under Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb; president of Council of Justice (1653); raad ordinaris of India (1657) and admiral of return fleet (December 1663-August 1664) stopping over at the Cape of Good Hope as VOC Commissioner (31 March-16 April 1664) ... he also stopped over (1661) at the Cape of Good Hope witnessing (28 April 1661) the following baptism: Den 28:en d:[it]o [April 1661] heeft dom:e [Johannis] Doncker een predikatie gedaen, ende gedoopt het kint, van den opperkoopman, De Langhe, bescheiden op 't schip genaemt Dordrecht van wegen de kamer van Delfft, ende is genaemt, Volckera Elijsabeth de getuigen zijn d' e: heer Dirck Steur ordinaris raet van India, ende Elijsabeth van Berckel m:[adam?]e vrou van Haemstee, Godt de Heere geeft dat dit gedoopte kint tot zijne naems eere mach opwassen. [Mansell Upham] ^[18] Interpretress to Jan van Riebeeck. Niece of Harry the Hottentot.

Death

Date: Krotoa of the Goringhaicona passed away [on] 29 July 1674. ^[7][4][2][5] / 30 Jul 1674. ^[3]

Place: Robben Island ^[7][4][3] / Robbeneiland ^[8] / Cape, [South Africa] ^[3][5]

Burial

Date: 30 Jul 1674 ^[8][3]

Place: Kerk In Die Kasteel ^[8] / Castle church, [Cape Town] ^[7][3] (She was buried in the little church at the new Castle ^[19]) / [on] Robben Island, de Caep de Goede Hoop ^[2] [South Africa] ^[3]

Gebeurtenisse (Afrikaans)

Krotoa (uitspraak = Krotwa) (c. 1643-1674) - Kaapse inheemse vrou van die Goringhaikona-stam ^[20]

Krotoa, (Eva genoem deur Kommandeur Jan VAN RIEBEECK aan wie se huis sy opgevoed is), is ongeveer 1642 in die Kaap gebore. Sy was lid van die Goringhaicona (Strandlopers). Later is sy Hottentot vrouetolk. Sy trou met Pieter VAN MEERHOF (Nederlands vir Peter HAVGARD) burgerlik op 26 APR 1664. Sy sterf in die Kaap op 29 JUL 1674. ^[21]

Zie over haar Theal, Hist. of S. Afr. I, blz. 29, 72, 156, 218: Na den dood van haar man leidde zij een ontuchtig leven. De Kaapsche Stukken uit de jaren 1664 en vlg. zijn vol klachten over die leelijke prije, dat Hottentoose swijn. Zij wordt bij haar dood genoemd een manifest exempel verthoonende dat de natuer, hoe naeuw en vast deselve ook door ingeprente reden werd gemuylbant, nochtans tsijner tijt boven alle leeringen seegenpralende tot haer aengeboren eigenschappen wederom uytspat. (Kaapsche St. 1675, f. 1402). Ze werd echter op christelijke wijze in de kerk begraven. ^[22]

Episodes van dronkenskap en prostitusie, na haar man se vroeë dood, lei tot haar vlug terug na die Khoikhoi, onmiddellike arrestasie, en veroordeling tot vyf jaar lange ballingskap op Robbeneiland, waar sy in 1674 sterf. ^[22]

Doop: in het Fort ^[23]

Events (English)

Krotoa (pronounced Krotwa) (c. 1643-1674) - Cape of Good Hope aboriginal woman of the Goringhaicona clan ^[20] born on Robben Island. Reared by the 1st VOC commander Jan van Riebeeck & utilised by the Dutch as interpreter, envoy, trader, guide, cultural broker, mediator, agent, & informant. She is the Cape’s 1st indigene to be baptised (3 May 1662 as Eva) & to marry according to Christian rites (2 June 1664). Wife of the VOC’s surgeon & superintendent of Robben Island, the Copenhagen-born Pieter Meerhoff (killed 1667/8 at Antongil Bay, Madagascar while on a trading expedition). As widow, falls into disgrace with the Dutch authorities who disapprove of her drinking, sexual, & native habits. Detained & banished without trial to Robben Island. Dies there (29 July 1674) aged 31 years. Her remains are later removed from the demolished church at the Castle & buried in the foundations of the Dutch Reformed Groote Kerk in Adderley Street, Cape Town. Her progeny forms a substantial proportion of the people classified “white” under the apartheid regime ... ^[24][20]

Krotoa was the first indigene African to convert to Christianity in South Africa and she was the first indigene African to formally marry a European.^[25] Krotoa aka Eva Meerhoff ^[20] has countless living descendants in female lines bearing inter alia the following surnames that I am aware of ... there are doubtless many, many more: Adriaanse, Basson, Bauermeister, Bester, Bierman, Bockelenberg, Brighton, Buys, Bruyns, Delport, De Vries, De Waal, Diodati, Du Toit, Enslin, Faasen, Feyt, Harmse, Heeger, Hennop, Horak, Jansen, Koegelenberg, Kruger, Labuschagne, Lambrechts. Laubscher, Malan, Malet, Meerhoff, Mostert, Minnaar, Morgendaal, Pelser, Priem, Rhoodie, Roux, Semmelink, Slabber, Redelinghuys, Rykheer, Smit, Upham, Van Aswegen, Van den Heever, Van Niekerk, Van der Merwe, Van der Muyden, Van der Spuy, Victor, Wamsteker & Zaaiman [Mansell Upham]. ^[26][16]

Eva, de tolckinne, bij haerluyden genaempt Krotöa,

voor tolcxdiensten, die nu eerns weder met Oedasöa

mede gaen sal: (a list of gifts) ^[27]

Krotoa (whom the Dutch called Eva) was apparently Autshumato's ^[20] niece, the daughter of his sister, but it is hard to be sure of the nature of the blood relationship between them as Khoikhoi family terms did not always match those of the Dutch commentators. ^[22]

Her first contact with the Dutch was, however, as a domestic servant. She was about ten when she was brought into the Van Riebeeck household, soon after their arrival, and here she began to learn Dutch. Her skill in this language soon impressed the family; by 1657 she was being used as an interpreter. By 1660, Krotoa had edged out her uncle as the principal interpreter for the Dutch settlement at the Cape. She was baptised in the Dutch Reformed Church two years later and by 1664 she had married a prominent member of the Dutch colony, the junior surgeon Pieter van Meerhoff. In 1660 she was described as fluent in Dutch and reasonably competent in Portuguese. Apart from various periods of absence to stay with her family members, she remained at the Castle until her husband became superintendent of the Robben Island prison in 1665. ^[22]

Van Meerhoff's job at Robben Island was, as the historian Candy Malherbe says, not a plum post. He had a number of time-consuming and difficult tasks, including the monitoring of ships entering the bay, the supervision of convicts who collected shells for lime and stone for the building of the Castle, the control of a small garrison and the tending of a flock of sheep. For Krotoa, isolated from her family, the sojourn on the Island could NOT have been a particularly happy one. A doctor was called to her aid in 1667 for a condition that seems to have been related to over-consumption of alcohol. ^[22]

After her husband was killed on a slaving and trading expedition to Mauritius and Madagascar, Krotoa was allowed to return to the mainland in September 1668. ^[28] Soon afterwards, reports were made by the Dutch of her allegedly drunken and adulterous behaviour, and she left the Castle and her two children for the more friendly Khoikhoi kraals. In February 1669, however, she was imprisoned at the Castle and banished to Robben Island, this time as a prisoner. She died in 1674. The Dutch described her on her death as 'this brutal aboriginal, [who] was always still hovering between' the Dutch and Khoikhoi cultures, yet she was given a Christian burial in the Castle. ^[22]

Krotoa, called Eva by the Dutch, is the first Khoikhoi woman to appear in the European records of the early settlement at the Cape as an individual personality and active participant in cultural and economic exchange. Eva joined Commander Jan van Riebeeck's household at the Dutch fort at around age 12. She was closely related to Oedasoa, chief of the Cochoqua Khoikhoi ^[20], but it is unclear whether her family sent her to the Dutch to work and learn the language or whether she made this decision on her own. She learned to speak fluent Dutch and Portuguese, and acted as an interpreter for the Dutch for most of her life. She converted to Christianity and in 1664 married a Danish surgeon, Pieter van Meerhoff, who was rising in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Together they had three children. After his death on an expedition to Madagascar, Eva became an alcoholic and was eventually sent to the prison colony on Robben Island for disorderly conduct. She died in 1674 and was given a Christian burial. ^[22]

I am a Hottentot and not a Dutchman, but you, Eva, try to curry favour with the Commander ... 21 June 1658: Fine weather with N.W. breeze. The freeman Jan Reijnierssen [Jan Reijniersz: (from Amsterdam) arrives (16 August 1653) as "bosschieter" on "Phoenix" who, together with Wouter Cornelisz: Mostaert [Mostert], becomes 1st of 2 to leave the Company to accept a 20-year free-burgher contract] came to complain early in the morning that during the night all his male and female slaves had run away, taking with them 3 or 4 blankets, clothing, rice, tobacco, etc. We thereupon called the new interpreter Doman, now called Anthony, who had returned from Batavia with the Hon. [Joan] Cuneus, and asked him why the Hottentots would not search for the runaway slaves, to which he coolly replied that he did not know. The Commander [Jan van Riebeeck], not trusting him, then called the interpreter Eva [born Krotoa of the Goringhaicona] alone into his office and privately asked her whether our blacks were not being harboured by the Hottentots. On this she asked whether such was the Commander’s opinion, and being answered in the affirmative, she (speaking good Dutch) said these words, namely: I tell you straight out, Mijnheer Van Riebeeck, Doman is no good. He told the Hottentots everything that was said in Mijnheer’s room the day before yesterday. When I told him that it was wrong to do so, he replied: I am a Hottentot and not a Dutchman, but you, Eva, try to curry favour with the Commander, etc. She added: Mijnheer, I also believe that the Fat Captain of the Kaapmans [Gogosoa, paramount chief of the Goringhaiqua] harbours the slaves. On being asked what the chief would do with the slaves, Eva replied: He will present them to the Cochoquas [called by the Dutch 'Saldanhaers' whose chief Oedasoa is husband to Krotoa's sister - formerly wife to Goeboe, son of Soeswa / Soesoa / Sousao - Chocque [‘king’] of the Chainouqua - but snatched in war by the Cochoqua] to retain their friendship, and they in turn will deliver the slaves to the Hancumquas living far from here and cultivating the soil in which they grow daccha [also dagga, of the cannabis family], a dry herb which the Hottentots chew, which makes them drunk and which they highly esteem ... ^[29]

Death Notes - This day departed this life, a certain female Hottentoo, named Eva, wrote the Dutch diarist on 29 July 1674, long ago taken from the African brood in her tender childhood by the Hon Van Riebeeck and educated in his house as well as brought to the knowledge of the Christian faith, and being thus transformed from a female Hottentoo almost into a Netherland woman... ^[23]

Her Khoi name was Krotoa. She was named Eva by Commandant Johan Anthoniszoon 'Jan' van Riebeeck (Culemborg 21 Apr 1619 - Batavia 18 Jan 1677) and his wife who arrived at the Cape on 6 Apr 1652 to set up a Refreshment station for VOC ships. The first fort was called Duijnhoop. She was raised by Commandant Jan van Riebeeck and lived with him and his wife Maria de la Queillerie whom he married on 28 Mar 1649. Maria died in Malacca on 11 FEB 1665. Eva was playmate and childminder to their children. ^[11]

Member of the Goringhaicona ^[20] tribe, a Khoi (Hottentot) tribe indigenous to the area and niece of the leader, Herrie (Autshumato), of the Strandlopers (Autohoemao), outcasts of the Hottentot tribes that lived on the beach. She later became a Hottentot interpreter for Jan van Riebeeck as she learnt Dutch and Portuguese. ^[11]

Became an outcast of the Cape community after her husband was murdered on Madagaskar and was later banished to the Island. ^[11] Children placed with Jan Reyniersz and his wife in Feb 1669 ^[11]: "Church Council decides to place the 3 children of the banished-without-trial & Robben-Island-relegated Widow Eva Meerhoff, born Krotoa of the Goringhaicona into the care of the free-burgher Hendrick Reynsz: (from Dirksland [Goeree-Overflakkee, Zuid-Holland) & his wife Barbara Geems (from Amsterdam)" ... den 8 Febr.[uarie] [1669] is resolveert der 3 kinderen [Jacobus, Pieternella & Salomon Meerhoff] van Pieter van Meerhof [(from Copenhagen in Denmark)] rato den weduwe om haer godtloos en ongebonden leven te ontnemen en door de Diaconio op te voeden, zijn den 1 Maert besluit ten huys van Hendrick Reynsz: vryman alhier voor de som .van 250 gl Indiesche valuatie in't jaer - [1669] ... Coincidentally the couple are also given at this time the rescued-from-being-buried-alive-&confiscated Khoe infant soon-to-be-baptized Florida ... For more information about these seminal events in colonial & cultural appropriations, click at the following link: http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/RemarkableWriting/UL07Florida.pdf [Mansell Upham] ^[24] Children placed with Barbara Geems, who apparently ran a brothel on 1 March1669. ^[11]

Born at the Cape, circa 1642, died Cape Town 29.7.1674. A female Hottentot interpreter, Eva was a member of the Goringhaikona (Strandlopers or Beach-combers), a Hottentot tribe that lived in the vicinity of Table Bay. The captain of this tribe, Herry, was her uncle, and her sister was the wife of Oedasoa, captain of the Cochoqua (Saldanhars). ^[3][30]

Shortly after their arrival at the Cape, Jan van Riebeeck and his wife took Eva into their home. They gave her a Western education and instructed her in the Christian religion. She soon learnt to speak Dutch fluently, and, later on, was able to make herself understood in Portuguese. Although she did not receive official payment for this, she was used as an interpreter, especially between V.O.C. officials and Oedasoa, with whom she sometimes went to stay. ^[3][30]

Van Riebeeck had a high opinion of her ability as an interpreter, although later he warned his successor not to accept everything she said without reservations. ^[3][30]

On the 3rd May 1662, Eva was baptized in the church inside the Fort of Good Hope by a visiting minister, the Rev. Petrus Sibelius, with the secunde, Roelof de Man and the sick comforter, Pieter van der Stael, as witnesses. She was also the first Hottentot to marry according to Western customs. ^[3][30]

On the 26th April 1664, and with the permission of the Council of Policy, she was married in a civil ceremony to the explorer, Pieter van Meerhoff, and she received a dowry of fifty rix-dollars from the V.O.C. On the 2nd June 1664 the marriage was also solemnized in church. Of the children born from this marriage three survived. ^[3][30]

In May 1665 Van Meerhoff and his family left the Cape when he was sent to Robben Island as commander. In 1667 he was murdered during an expedition to Madagascar and on 30 September 1668 Eva returned to the Cape with her children, where the V.O.C. gave them the old pottery workshop as a home. She lapsed into such a dissolute and immoral life, however, that the V.O.C. again sent her to Robben Island on 26th March 1669, and placed the three children in the care of the free burgher, Jan Reyniersz. Eva returned to the mainland on various occasions, but was always banished to the island. ^[3][30]

23 October 1669 "... Krotoa as registered legal owner of a slave ... Jan Vos, a slave belonging to the widow of Pieter van Meerhoff [Eva born Krotoa of the Goringhaicona] was placed in the care of the Church Council - in the margin a note (added 1 January 1670) states that Jan Vos had been hired out to Jan Verhagen for 1 month." [Transporten en Schepenkennis] [Mansell Upham] ^[31]

In May 1673 she was allowed to have a child baptized on the mainland and, in spite of her outrageous way of living, was buried in the church inside the Castle on the day after her death. ^[3][30]

In 1677 the free burgher, Bartholomeus Borns recieved permission from the Council of Policy to take two of Eva's children, Pieternella (Petronella) and Salamon van Meerhoff, with him to Mauritius. There Pieternella van Meerhoff married Daniel Zaayman (from Vlissingen), and, on 26th January 1709, arrived with her husband at the Cape, where she became an ancestor of the Zaayman family in South Africa. There were eight children born of this marriage, four sons and four daughters, of whom most (or all) were probably born on Mauritius. ^[3][30]

3 October 1686: Mauritius Commander Isaacq Johannes Lamotius informs Cape Commander Simon van der Stel that Cape aborigine Eva Meerhoff born Krotoa's eldest Eurafrican son, Jacobus Meerhoff - eventually sent to Mauritius (October 1685) to join his sister Pieternella - is to be sent back to the Cape following innumerable complaints ("menigvuldige Klagten") by Jacobus Meerhoff's brother-in-law, Daniel Zaijman / Zaayman, concerning Meerhoff's "quaat comportement en wederhoornheijt" & "aangesien hij nergens toe nut en van seer kwaden wandel verlies" ... Jacobus Meerhoff, however, mysteriously dies during the voyage back to the Cape ... Lamotius is commander of Mauritius (1677-1692) during which time his wife & baby daughter perish in a fire. Accused (1692) of despotism, he is finally banished for 6 years to a remote island in the East Indies returning thereafter to Patria via the Cape (1718) .... [Mansell Upham] ^[32]

The family has descended in the male line from the eldest son, Pieter Zaayman; two sons were baptized in Cape Town on 17 February 1709; two daughters were apparently married at the Cape (to Diodati and Bockelberg). A third daughter, Maria Zaayman, had already arrived at the Cape from Mauritius in 1708 with her husband, Hendrik Abraham de Vries, of Amsterdam (one of the four De Vries ancestors in South Africa) there being with her four children, of whom three boys were baptized simultaneously in Cape Town on 4 November 1708. ^[3][30]

A fourth daughter, Eva Zaayman, date of birth unrecorded, was married (apparently at the Cape) first to Hubert Jansz van der Meyden, and later (20 September 1711) at Stellenbosch, to Johannes Smit of Delft. As far as is known no children resulted from these marriages. ^[3][30]

Rembrance Controversy

Krotoa - her blood flows in the veins of thousands

"The benches were at Krotoa Place, the small square at the intersection of Castle Street and St George’s Mall." ^[33]

How many people are aware that this very site adjoins the original grant of land given to the freed private slave, Angela / Engela (Maaij Ansela) van Bengale aka Moeder Jagt, who later married the free-burgher Arnoldus Willemsz Basson (from Wesel in the Duchy of Cleves)? ^[33]

She has the distinction of being the 4th slave to be formally freed at the Cape of Good Hope, the 1st slave woman to be freed without being legally bound to a man & the 1st woman to be granted land in her own right ... ^[33]

... the erf was granted (25 February 1667) & later transferred (1718) by Moeder Jagt to the husband, Gijsbert le Febre (1690-1743/4) from Overchie, of her granddaughter Catharina van der Sande (born 1700) ... being the maternal grandparents of the Leiden University-educated opperhoofd Gijsbert Hemmij (1746-1798) who died at Kakegawa in Shizuoka, Japan ... ^[33]

Diagonally opposite Angela`s property was the site of the property purchased by Cape-born mestiço Christoffel Snijman's step-father, the freed slave Anthonij Jansz; van Bengale ... ^[33]

Miscellaneous Reading

• South African History Online - Krotoa ^[34]
• Diary, Jan van Riebeeck ^[34]
• Love in the time of imperialism: Krotoa 'Eva' van Meerhof (www.archivalplatform.org/blog/entry) ^[34]
• WikiPedia - Krotoa ^[34]
• 'Eva, wat sê hulle?' : konstruksies van Krotoa in Suid-Afrikaanse tekste Author: E. Jansen (2003) Vossiuspers UvA, Amsterdam Type of publication: inaugural lecture Repository Amsterdam - UvaPub, University of Amsterdam ^[35]
• Daleen Mathee wrote a book, based on this history : Pieternella van die Kaap. ^[34][36]
• The first people of the Cape by Alan Mountain. Published on 3 Jun. 2015. ^{[citation needed]}
• Every step of the way, The journey to freedom in South Africa (www.hsrcpress.ac.za/) Written by Michael Morris, Commissioned and funded by the Ministry of Education, Compiled by the Social Cohesion and Integration Research Programme of the HSRC. 2004, 344 p. ISBN 0-7969-2061-4 ^[23]
• An Account of the Cape of Good Hope and the Hottentotes, the Natives of that Country, (1704) ^[17]

Video

• Something interesting: SPIRIT OF KROTOA RETURNED TO THE CASTLE OF GOOD HOPE - a ceremony held to return her spirit to the castle. See it here: YouTube
  
  ^[37]
• Documentary video Hidden Histories series: Krotoa - Khoi Child (produced by Penguin Films for South African TV channel SABC 1) on Krotoa (available to watch on YouTube
  
  or Vimeo).^[38]
• Dramatisation of her life in the movie Krotoa which can be watched on the Showmax streaming service (subscription required).^[39]

Krotoa was born in 1642. She passed away in 1674. ^[40]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Source:
   • Robertson, Delia. The First Fifty Years Project. http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/ Page: Krotoa of the Goringhaicona Seen and entered by Schalk Pienaar on [ April 2014], by Philip van der Walt on 26 Mar 21, 2015.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4} WikiTree profile Of the Goringhaicona-1 created by Pieter Meyer, May 20, 2013.
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18} WikiTree profile Goringhaiquas-1 created through the import of Vermaak Family Site - 05 May 2013.GED on May 5, 2013 by Dina Vermaak. Sources:
   • Author: Shelvin Swanepoel Title: Shelvin Swanepoel Family Web Site Text: MyHeritage.com Page: Eva Krotoa
   • Author: G. C. de W.
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4} WikiTree profile Goringhaikona-1 created through the import of Law family tree 2012.ged on Jan 8, 2012 by Charlene Deacon. Included the following notes:

   Eva, de tolckinne, bij haerluyden genaempt Krotöa, voor tolcxdiensten, die nu eerns weder met Oedasöa mede gaen sal: (a list of gifts) November 5, 1660, Commander's Diary, vol 3, page 287. Eva died on 29 July 1674. And she was buried in the little church at the new Castle (E.C. Godee Molsbergen Jan van Riebeeck en Zijn Tijd). Sources:

   • http://www.ballfamilyrecords.co.uk
   • National Archives: Extracts from Precis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope. Journal 1652-1732. Summary: Eva van Meerhoff. Died 29-07-1674. Wife of Pieter van Meerhof. Interpretress to Jan van Riebeeck. Niece of Harry the Hottentot. Buried in the Church of the New Castle.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5} WikiTree profile Meerhoff-3 created through the import of Ancestors_DippenaarAndre_noinfo.GED on Oct 23, 2012 by Andrew Dippenaar.
6. ↑ WikiTree profile Goringhaicona-1 created by Dirk Joseph Pauw, Jul 19, 2012.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6} WikiTree profile Van die Kaap-2 created through the import of Pieterse Rev1.ged on Jun 1, 2011 by Esmé van der Westhuizen.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3} WikiTree profile Van die Kaap-3 created through the import of wikitree upload.ged on Jul 19, 2012 by Arrie Klopper.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} WikiTree profile Goringhaicona-2 created by Elize Taylor 18 Jan 2019. Source:
   • [Khoi Stammoeders afsameling ] Geskep deur Elize Taylor Thanks to family registers on GENZA: MATRIARGALE GENEALOGIEE VAN KHOI-STAMMOEDERS. Sien ook CAPENSIS" 2/2014 pp. 8-11. Met erkenning aan Ockert Malan: Eva Krotoa GORINGHAICONA en Pieter van MEERHOFF added by Elize Taylor 20 Jun 2019.
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2} Source:
    • The Genealogical Society of South Africa: eGSSA branch, South African Records Transcribed. A selection of historical records transcriptions. Cape Town Baptisms 1653 to 1663, Written by transcribed by Corney Keller. baptism. Seen and entered June 11, 2019 by Susanna de Bruyn
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5} Jun 1, 2011 by Esmé van der Westhuizen. Bron / Source:
    • Wikipedia.com » Krotoa
12. ↑ : 27 June 1656: Sent people out to see whither Herry [Autshumao, chief of the Goringhaicona], Caepman [Goringhaiqua], &c. were going, one was sent round behind the Lion Hill, and the other to the wood to the Eastward. In the afternoon the man sent to the Eastward returned, and reported the horde which had come from the Eastward across the river, were also associates of Herry and Caepmans, that they were rather numerous, 35 huts and many cattle, they had said that they were waiting there until joined by Herry and Caepman from behind the mountain, to proceed altogether into the interior; Herry not having dared to drive his cattle from behind the Lion Hill, past the Fort, fearing that the Commander would have taken them because he had failed to deliver the cattle promised every fourth day, as stipulated, &c. The other man returned from behind the mountain, and reported that a camp of 13 huts and about 200 cattle still lay there, also Caepmans people, who had said that Herry had gone towards Hout Bay, intending to go further inland, and to return with many cattle to sell to us – time will be the best teacher. [Journal] [Mansell Upham]. Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Jun 27 at 5:28 am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Jun 27, 2015.
13. ↑ Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: May 2, 2015. Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Jun 27, 2015.
14. ↑ Autshumao (or Autshumato) was a Khoikhoi chief who lived in the Cape in the 1600s. He became an interpreter between the Khoikhoi and the Dutch. After a deal went bad Autshumao was banished to Robben Island where he became the first person to be imprisoned on Robben Island, and the first to escape one year later. His niece, Krotoa, also has an interesting but sad story as she was taken into the Van Riebeeck household where she picked up a Western lifestyle before marrying a Danish surgeon called Peter Van Meerhof. From their marriage come a long line of descendants including Paul Kruger, Jan Smuts, and FW De Klerk. Click here for the link to the YouTube film Know Your Country - The First Prisoner on Robben Island
    
    . Source:
    • The first people of the Cape by Alan Mountain. Published on 3 jun. 2015. {Credits: Ambient nature sound : "Hiking a trail" recorded by "aldo" - SoundBible.com (Public Domain License) Music: Blue Dot Session - Ferry Landing (Attribution - NonCommercial Licence From FreeMusicArchives.org) FW de Klerk photo Copyright World Economic Forum - weforum.org (Creative Commons Atribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic License) Table Mountain photo from Robben Island - Barry Haynes (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses)], via Wikimedia Commons ; Robben Island Photo - By PHParsons (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses)], via Wikimedia Commons.}

    Source:

    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: July 14 at 9:18am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Jul 17, 2015.
15. ↑ Born Deventer 1647 & dies Batavia 1 June 1700 - Dutch doctor & botanist employed by Dutch East India Company (1673). Dispatched (Summer 1674) to trading-post Dejima in Japan. While giving medical instructions & taking care of high-ranking Japanese patients ten Rhijne collects materials on Japanese medicine, especially on acupuncture & moxibustion. Returns to Batavia (Autumn 1676) continuing to serve as physician. Publishes book (1683) entitled "Dissertatio de Arthritide: Mantissa Schematica: De Acupunctura: Et Orationes Tres" - a treatise on the art of needling which he calls acupunctura - 1st Western detailed study on that matter. Also writes "An Account of the Cape of Good Hope and the Hottentotes" describing lives of Khoikhoi ('Hottentots') during early days of Dutch settlement at Cape as well as pioneering book on leprosy in Asia "Asiatise Melaatshei" & a treatise on tea published by Jakob Breyne. [Mansell Upham].
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1} 10 October 1675 - Peter Kolb (1675-1725) born at Dörflas - near Kirchenlamitz im oberfränkischen Landkreis Wunsiedel im Fichtelgebirge und liegt am Fluss Lamitz - Germany … The Hottentots are the greatest Lovers of Liberty in the World […] - Peter Kolb (1675-1725) […] Peter Kolb / Kolbe / Kolben / Colbe - studies at Egidius Gymnasium, Nuremberg where rector, J. Textor, obtains scholarships for him introducing him to astronomer G. C. Eimmart (1638-1705) for whom he soon becomes assistant. Attends Halle University studying Philosophy, Theology, Mathematics & Physics. Obtains master’s degree (1703) - thesis entitled De natura cometarum explains comets as natural phenomena. Enters service of Freiherr B F von Krosigk, privy councillor at Prussian court. Tutors 2 sons but also travels with Von Krosigk who sends (1705) him to Cape of Good Hope with letter of introduction from Nicolaas Witsen (1641-171) - mayor of Amsterdam - to make meteorological & astronomical observations. Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel receives him upon arrival on Unie (6 June 1705) accommodating him in the Company’s garden. Falls into disfavour after failing to complete astronomical work successfully & siding with colonists against governor. Also spends time studying climate, geology, flora & fauna of Cape taking especial interest in Khoikhoi. 'Discovery' & description of a giraffe elicits much interest in Europe [See in this regard the profile of Robert Jacob Gordon (bef. 1743 - 1795) Philip van der Walt June 10, 2019.] - no reliable source up to then produces compelling proof of its existence even though Julius Caesar had brought one to Rome (c. 46 BC). Von Krosigk dies (1707) ending source of income. Reconciles with new Cape governor, Louis van Assenburg entering (1711) service of VOC as secretary at Stellenbosch (until 1713) when failing eyesight prevents him from working. Sails to Amsterdam where eyes are treated by Dr. C. Göckel, court physician at Rastatt. Eyesight restored, writes 2 books De ecnephia vento Capitis Bona(e) Spei, on Cape Southeaster (published 1715), & De aquia Capitis Bonae Spei on waters at the Cape (published 1716). Also publishes theological work (1714) Theosophia, dat is proefstuk der natuurlijke erkentenis Gods. Becomes rector of Latin school at Neustadt an der Aisch (1718). Best remembered for Caput Bonae Spei Hodiernum, das ist vollständige Beschreibung des Afrikanischen Vorgebürges der Guten Hoffnung … (published Nuremburg 1719) & divided into 3 parts:

    1. 3 natural kingdoms at Cape
    2. customs of Cape Khoikhoi, or Hottentots as they are called at that time, &
    3. government & way of life of Whites at Cape.

    Translated into Dutch (1727), French (1742) & appears in English (1731) as Present State of the Cape of Good Hope: Or, A Particular Account of the Several Nations of the Hottentots: Their Religion, Government, Laws, Customs, Ceremonies, and Opinions; Their Art of War, Professions, Language, Genius, etc. Together with a Short Account of the Dutch Settlement at the Cape – translation, however, shorter than original & not accurate. Original German edition contains 846 folio pages & many copper plate illustrations. Valuable describing Khoikhoi language, religion, lifestyle & customs before influenced to any significant extent by Europeans. Claims Khoikhoi descend from Jews with customs resembling cave-dwellers of Nile Valley. Occasionally exaggerates using accounts of Khoikhoi from Olfert Dapper & Guy Tachard. Criticised by François le Vaillant who considers him a stay-at-home dismissing book as fanciful, Abbé N. L. de la Caille (astronomer who outdoes him in terms of astronomical & meteorological observations) questions his sources & Anders Sparrman criticizes his proclivity for the unusual. Accounts of Khoikhoi largely sympathetic despite moral judgements describing them as "lazy, drunken & vengeful". Many customs mentioned originally thought false, however, generally now considered correct. Book also provides useful & detailed account of clash between colonists & Governor Van der Stel. Though strongly biased in favour of colonists, account contains details not found anywhere else". [Mansell Upham] Source: First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Oct 10 at 7:13 am, 2015. Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Oct 11, 2015.
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1} Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Jun 3, 2015. Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Jun 3, 2015.
18. ↑ Source:
    • First Fifty Years - collating Cape of Good Hope records Community Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Jun 3, 2015.
19. ↑ E.C. Godee Molsbergen Jan van Riebeeck en Zijn Tijd.
20. ↑ ^{20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 20.5 20.6} "Meerhoff`s ethnic clan name as found Romanized by the Dutch in the extant VOC records & thought to mean 'children of the Goringhaiqua' as its chief Autshumao aka Herry & his followers (initially 'Bushmanized', cattle-less & hunter-gatherer revertees) fell under the suzerainty of the Goringhaiqua [dubbed the Caepmans by the Dutch but also initially mistakenly called the Saldanhars which latter name later came to refer more consistently to their northern neighbours the Cochoqua] ... 'Qua' & 'Na' = 'people' in the Khoe / Khoi / Que language(s) / dialects ... Krotoa's clan was also more casually referred to as the Watermans or Vismans or Strandlopers (sometimes found translated into English by academics / historians / scholars as 'Watermen', 'Fishermen' or 'Beachcombers', respectively) ... Krotoa is 1st found recorded living among the Goringhaicona as 'niece' to Austhumao, but her biological mother [Autshumao`s sister?] appears later living among the Goringhaiqua while her grandfather Heestkema - possibly paternal [?] - living among the Chainouqua - makes an even later curious & unexpected visit to the Fort ..." [Mansell Upham] Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Oct 1, at 12:24 am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Oct 1, 2015.
21. ↑ Jun 1, 2011 by Esme Pieterse. Bron / Source:
    • Die Geslagsregister van die familie PELSER, PELSTER, PELSZER, PELTSER, PELTZER en PELZER in Suid-Afrika sedert 1708 deur R. DE V. PIENAAR, Stellenbosch, 2004. bl. 8.
    • Met verwysing na "SA Biografiese Woordeboek deel II, bl. 227-8;
    • Ockert MALAN se Die Van Schalkwyks v.d. Nieuweveld, bl. 7-8;
    • lees ook Dalene MATTHEE se boek Pieternella van die Kaap, en
    • D. SLEIGH se boek Eilande'" (Y. DROST, 23 NOV 2009).
22. ↑ ^{22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6} Jun 1, 2011 by Esme Pieterse. Bron / Source:
    • (www.geocities.com) Athens/Rhodes/1266/genetic-eva.htm
    • Journal of Jan van Riebeeck. Volume I, 1649-1655
    • Journal of Jan van Riebeeck. Volume II, III, 1656-1662.
23. ↑ ^{23.0 23.1 23.2} Jun 1, 2011 by Esmé van der Westhuizen. Bron / Source:
    • Every step of the way, The journey to freedom in South Africa (www.hsrcpress.ac.za) Written by Michael Morris, Commissioned and funded by the Ministry of Education, Compiled by the Social Cohesion and Integration Research Programme of the HSRC. 2004, 344 p. ISBN 0-7969-2061-4
24. ↑ ^{24.0 24.1} Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Feb 8, 2016 at 6:16 am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Feb 8 , 2016.
25. ↑ Febr 18, 2015 by Susanna de Bruyn
26. ↑ Source:
    • March 26 2015: 26 March 1669: The baptized Cape aborigine Eva Meerhoff, born Krotoa is finally banished without trial to Robben Island after being imprisoned for more than a month & a half in the "zwart gat" at the Casteel de Goede Hoop ... "South west wind blowing lustily. Our little yacht De Bruydegom proceeds to Robben Island to fetch thence some Dutch slaughter wethers for the ships on the roadstead. She takes with her to the Island, the Hottentoo woman, Eva, who has now for some time already been sitting in the hole (prison) in consequence of her godless life." [Mansell Upham]. Source:
    • Facebook First Fifty Years Project. Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Apr 26, 2015.
27. ↑ Extracts from Precis of the Archives of the Cape of Good Hope. Journal 1652-1732. November 5, 1660, Commander's Diary, vol 3, page 287.
28. ↑ 30 September 1668: The newly widowed Eva Meerhoff born Krotoa of the Goringhaicona (c. 1643-1674) & her children (Jacobus, Pieternella & Salamo Meerhoff) finally return to the mainland from Robben Island - more than 6 months after the colony`s Council of Policy had already received word of Peter Meerhoff's demise at Antongil Bay, Madagascar during a slave trading expedition ... "N. wind during the night with heavy rain. Our boat returns from the Island with Eva and her children, and a quantity of slabs." [Journal] [Mansell Upham]. Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Sept 30 at 5:06 am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Oct 1, 2015.
29. ↑ Source:
    • [Mansell Upham] First Fifty Years - collating Cape of Good Hope records Community Page: June 21, 2015 Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Jun 21, 2015.
30. ↑ ^{30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 30.7 30.8 30.9} Jun 1, 2011 by Esmé van der Westhuizen. Bron / Source:
    • SESA (Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa)
31. ↑ Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Oct 23 at 9:25 am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Oct 24, 2015.
32. ↑ Source:
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: 3 Oct at 6:37 am Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Oct 4, 2015.
33. ↑ ^{33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 33.4} Source: Mansell Upham -
    • First Fifty Years - Project collating Cape of Good Hope records Facebook Community Page: Sep 25, 2015 at 12:07 pm. (also see:
    • https://web.archive.org/web/20150702064318/http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/ui116.htm
    • https://web.archive.org/web/20150702064126/http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/ui117.htm
    • (www.news24.com) Khoisan-activists-in-court-for-vandalism. Seen and added by Philip van der Walt Sep 26, 2015.
34. ↑ ^{34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4} Schalk Pienaar on 26 April 2014.
35. ↑ Seen and added by Philip van der Walt [Date?]
36. ↑ Dalene Matthee.co.za - Pieternella Febr 18, 2015 by Susanna de Bruyn.
37. ↑ Casteel de Goede Hoop 1666, [1] Seen and entered June 11, 2019 by Susanna de Bruyn
38. ↑ Source:
    • Type: Documentary / Location: Western Cape, SA / Director: Kaye Ann Williams / Director of Photography: Uwe Jansch / Producer: Roberta Durrant / Production Company: Penguin Films / Episodes: 1 / Year: 2013

    Krotoa is a documentary in the Hidden Histories’s slate of documentaries produced for SABC 1. The series investigates historical occurrences or people of significance that may not be widely known: Krotoa [her Khoi name] was a Khoi girl (c.1643-1674) of the Goringhaicona tribe from the Cape who was taken at the impressionable age of ten or eleven years old into the home of Jan van Riebeeck as a domestic servant. When the young Krotoa moved into the home of Jan van Riebeeck, she became a ‘pet’ project to his wife, Maria. A tragic heroine – Krotoa: Eva of the Cape. The only recorded female interpreter of her time, was the bridge between the Khoi people and the Dutch settlers. She aided Jan van Riebeeck in his dealings with the Khoi and was instrumental in negotiating the end of the first Dutch-Khoi war. We examine the life of a woman now known as the Mother of the Afrikaaner Nation.

    Added by Shaun Wallace on 24 Nov '21
39. ↑ Source:
    • Title: Krotoa / Location: Western Cape, SA / Director: Roberta Durrant / Production Company: Penguin Films / Year: 2016

    KROTOA is inspired by real-life historical events. The Khoisan language, Khoekhoegowab, is one of the languages spoken in the film along with Afrikaans. "This feature film is the culmination of three years of research, scripting and, most importantly, actively engaging with top historians on the subject. Every effort was made to honour this heroin’s life and memory,” says Kaye Ann Williams, who created the script for the film as a result of a documentary she produced and directed on KROTOA’s life.

    Added by Shaun Wallace on 24 Nov '21
40. ↑ Source will be added by André Rudman by 27 Mar 2022.