Von Siebold's drawings of Korean people |
Siebold was a German doctor who graduated in Germany and went to Holland and applied for a job at the Dutch ministry of Colonies who had taken over the former properties of the V.O.C. |
Philipp Franz Balthasar
von Siebold, born in the Bavarian town of Wurzburg came from a family
of doctors. In 1815 he also started to study medicine at the university
of Würzburg. He was an adventurous young man and went to the Netherlands
and applied for a job at the ministry of Colonies in Holland in 1822.
He was hired and send to Batavia. Here he drew the attention of the Governor. Von Siebold seemed the right person for Japan. In 1823 he arrived at Deshima with the assignment to collect information about Japan. Nobody was allowed to leave the small island, but after treating some local officials, he was allowed to open a clinic outside the island, legally he was not allowed to be paid for his services, everybody gave him presents instead. This became the basis for an extensive collection which is still housed in Leiden, Holland. Almost a national museum in itself.
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