Jacob Roggeveen

Jacob Roggeveen (1659–1729) was a Dutch navigator who led the 1722 expedition that became the first documented European voyage to Easter Island.

Easter Island: A remote Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific, known to its inhabitants as Rapa Nui. Roggeveen’s expedition reached the island on Easter Sunday in 1722 and recorded its first documented European contact.
Dutch East India Company: A Dutch chartered company that held a monopoly over Dutch trade with Asia from 1602 to 1799. Its commercial system and ships made Roggeveen’s expedition possible.
Arend Roggeveen: A Dutch cartographer and mathematician who promoted a southern route through Terra Australis. His plans for a southern passage inspired the expedition later led by his son Jacob.
European colonization of Oceania: The expansion of European political control and settlement across the islands of the Pacific. Roggeveen’s landfall formed an early episode in sustained European encounters with Oceania.
Juan Fernández Islands: A Chilean archipelago in the southeastern Pacific, including Robinson Crusoe Island. Roggeveen’s expedition visited the islands during its Pacific crossing.
Cape Horn: The headland at the southern tip of South America, separating the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Roggeveen’s fleet entered the Pacific by sailing around this hazardous maritime passage.
Terra Australis: A hypothesized southern continent once believed necessary to balance the landmasses of the Northern Hemisphere. The prospect of finding this land helped motivate Roggeveen’s voyage.
Rapa Nui people: The Polynesian people indigenous to Rapa Nui, also called Easter Island. Roggeveen’s landing brought his crew into contact with the island’s inhabitants.
Samoa: An island country in Polynesia, comprising the western part of the Samoan archipelago. The expedition’s Pacific route included a stop in Samoa.
Navigation: The practice of determining and following a route across land, sea, or air. Roggeveen’s expedition required methods for locating ships across the open Pacific.

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Salas y Gómez IslandRelated: His expedition is commonly credited with the island's European discovery in 1722.