Joan van Broekhuizen

Joan van Broekhuizen, Latinised as Janus Broukhusius, Dutch classical scholar and poet, was born to simple parents in Amsterdam on 20 November 1649. His father died when he was very young, and his uncle placed him at the Latin school, where he showed great promise. His uncle later apprenticed him to an apothecary, with whom he lived several years. Not liking this employment, he entered the army, and in 1674 was sent with his regiment to America, in the fleet under Admiral Michiel de Ruyter, but returned to Holland the same year.