Who was Ferdinand Dejean?
Dejean's signature in the visitor book of the "Fridericianum" at Kassel, 1782.
Physician, globetrotter, protagonist of the Enlightenment and patron of Mozart
"... j'espere que la providence que m'a ainsy enlevé des miens et fait arriver par tant des perils et dangers de la vie, j'espere que cette même providence daigne me continuer ses soins et veuille un jour me ramener dans le sein de ma Patrie, ... paisible le reste de nos jours."
Letter by Ferdinand Dejean to his father from Batavia, Oct 29th, 1763
A man of learning and "savoir vivre", open-minded and well-travelled: Dejean, born 1731 in Bonn/Germany, worked for ten years as a surgeon in the service of the Dutch East-India Company (VOC),
where he acquired considerable wealth. Afterwards he continued his studies in Leyden, and as a passionate champion of the Enlightenment came into contact with many scholars of the time. To
posterity his name is mainly known by the fact that in 1777 the amateur flutist commissioned the young Mozart to write flute concerts and quartets for him. But who was this patron of the arts and
citizen of the "Republic of Letters", who died in Vienna in 1797? Read more ...