Marcgrave, Georg
Georg Marcgrave (Georg Marggraf; September 20, 1610 – August 1644) was a German naturalist, astronomer, and surveyor. His work was included posthumously in Willem Piso's Historia Naturalis Brasiliae, a foundational work in the natural history of Brazil. He was born in Liebstadt near Dresden. Little is known of his early years, but his later studies of medicine, botany, mathematics, and astronomy took him as far afield as the Universities of Leipzig, Basel, and Leiden. He left academia for adventure, joining the Dutch expedition to Brazil in 1637, for which he was named astronomer. Once there, he entered the service of Governor (1604 - 1679) and traveled throughout Dutch territories in Brazil, undertaking studies in his various fields; for our purposes, the most relevant were his geographical observations and maps, which would inform much of the Dutch cartography of the region. He left Brazil in 1643 for São Paulo de Loanda, in Africa, where he died of fever in 1644. His notes and drawings were brought back to Europe, where their posthumous acceptance would impact both geographical and naturalist works.
Establishing Dutch Territorial Claims in Brazil.
Mauritiopolis, Reciffa et circumjacentia castra.
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This is Joan Blaeu and Georg Marcgrave's 1647 map of the environs of Mauritiopolis and Recife, the main Dutch colonial foothold in Brazil during the impactful tenure of Dutch Governor Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen (1604 - 1679). The map was issued to promote Maurits' leadership and incontrovertible Dutch claims in the region. (more details)