Portrait of Willem Usselinx, Merchant and Founder of the Dutch West Indies Company

Willem Usselincx. Anonymous, 1637. After the Sack of Antwerp by Spanish troops, the merchant Willem Usselincx (1567-1647) settled in Middelburg. He fervently supported the foundation of a West India Company as an instrument in the war against Spain. But as a truce with the Spaniards drew nearer, his plans were rejected. Yet the declared objectives of the West India Company that was established directly after the Twelve Year Truce ended in 1621, were not what Usselincx had wanted: there was not enough emphasis on founding colonies and sending missionaries. Nevertheless, Usselincx is generally seen as the spiritual father of the WIC, as this portrait proclaims: 'Author of the West India Company'.