Krotoa: South Africa’s pioneer diplomat and linguist

A niece of Autshumato, she was born around about 1642. As a young girl she worked in the household of Jan van Riebeeck. She learnt to speak Dutch and Portuguese and, like her uncle, she also worked as an interpreter for the Dutch in trade negotiations with the Khoikhoi. Krotoa was baptized on 3 May 1662 in the church inside the Fort, and on 26 April 1664 she married Pieter van Meerhoff, a Danish surgeon. She is said to have been the first Khoikhoi person to marry according to Christian customs. At the time the Governor at the Cape was Zacharias Wagenaer. In May 1665 Krotoa and Pieter van Meerhoff departed the mainland for Robben Island. Van Meerhoff died on 27 February 1668 on an expedition. On 30 September 1668 Krotoa returned to the mainland with her children. At this stage she was lonely and suffering from alcoholism. She decided to leave the Castle and go and live with her people for a while. In February 1669 she was imprisoned at the Castle and then, like her uncle Autshumato before, she was banished to Robben Island. In May 1673 she was allowed to baptise a child on the mainland. Three of her children survived infancy. She died on 29 July 1674 in the Cape and was buried on 30 September 1674 in the church in the Fort.