Cornelis Joan Simons

Cornelis Joan Simons or Cornelis Jan Simonsz (ca. 1660 – 1727) was Governor of Dutch Ceylon from 11 May 1703 until 22 November 1707.^[1]

Simons' birth year is unknown, but he is thought to have been born in Utrecht. He studied law and in 1683 married Agnes Anna Emilius. Hired by the Dutch East India Company, Simons sailed from Amsterdam on 20 May 1690 to arrive at Cape Town 3 October 1690 where the next week he was installed as independent "fiskaal" (treasurer) of the Political Council. He left the cape in November 1694 to become treasurer of Dutch Coromandel on the Indian southeast coast. In 1701 he left from there for Batavia on Java where he is installed as vice-president of the Council of Justice. Two years later he was elected Governor of Ceylon and returned to the Indian subcontinent.^[2]

Simons instructed and directed the dissava of Jaffnapatnam (Claes Isaaksz) to codify the Thesavalamai ("The Customs of the Land"), which was finished in 1707 and to this day applies to most Tamils in northern Sri Lanka. Simons also initiated building the Leper Hospital in Hendala in the Gampaha District, which was finished in 1708 under his successor Becker.^[3]

After his governorship he remained extraordinary member of the Raad van Indië and in 1708 he has the title Commissary of the Cape of Good Hope. He left that year from Ceylon via the Cape to the Dutch Republic as admiral of a returning fleet of 18 ships, carrying a cargo with an estimated value of 5 million guilders. He re-established himself in the city of Utrecht, where he died in 1727.^[2][4]

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