Lives of the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Colonial Governors

João da Mata Chapuzet (1777–1842)

João da Mata Chapuzet was born in Lisbon in 1777. His early jobs included second lieutenant engineer and colonel tenant, serving at the General Magister Barracks. He succeeded António Pusich as colonial Governor of Cape Verde in May 1822. There is a small street named after him in Lisbon.

Peter Lotharius Oxholm (1753–1827)

Peter Lotharius Oxholm was an officer in the Danish army. He was the leader of the Søndre Sjællandske Landeværnsregiment and surrendered to the British at the Battle of Køge. Later in his life he was appointed as Governor-General of the Danish West Indies from 1815 to 1816.

Francisco Javier de Viana (1764–1820)

Francisco Javier de Viana was an Argentine soldier. Early in his career he studied in Spain, probably at the Cádiz naval school, and travelled with Alejandro Malaspina on the four-year voyage of the ships Atrevida and Descubierta . In 1813 he became the Governor of the Córdoba del Tucumán Intendancy, but only for a short period of time.

Charles Rochfort Scott (1790–1872)

Charles Rochfort Scott was born in 1790 and had a long career during which he was a soldier, surveyor and assistant quarter-master-general. In 1864 at the age of 74 he became Lieutenant Governor of Guernsey.

Benjamin Franklin Tilley (1848–1907)

B.F. Tilley, as he was commonly known, was an officer in the United States Navy. He was the first Acting-Governor of Tutuila and Manua, later known as American Samoa. He died of pneumonia in 1907.

Xavier de Fürst (b. 1948)

Xavier de Fürst was born in 1948 and became a high government official, known in France as a prefect. He eventually replaced Christian Job as the high administrator of the French government in the Wallis and Futuna islands in the South Pacific.

Erwin Ritter von Zach (1872–1942)

Erwin Ritter von Zach was born in Vienna in 1872. He studied medicine and developed an interest in Chinese literature and culture, but he became a diplomat. He became the second consul of the Austro-Hungarian concession of Tianjin.

Baron Salomon Maurits von Rajalin (1757–1825)

Salomon Maurits von Rajalin was born in Karlskrona, Sweden, and inherited the title of baron from his father. He served in both the French and Swedish navies. In 1785 he became the first Swedish governor of Saint Barthélemy.

Theodor Gotthilf Leutwein (1849–1921)

Theodor Gotthilf Leutwein became colonial administrator of German South-west Africa (now Namibia) in 1894 and remained in the post for 11 years. His 1906 autobiography was called Elf Jahre als Gouverneur in Deutsch-Südwestafrika (Eleven Years as Governor in German South-west Africa).