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Koopman

| Introduction | Origins of Koopman | Opa GW Koopman |
| Early years in Surabaya | Surabaya connection to Scotland? |
| Oom Chris Koopman | Dutch Club in Singapore | Family time in Singapore |

Origins of Koopman

My great grandfather, Gustaaf Wilhelm Koopman, Omi's father (Opa Koopman), was born in Surabaja in June 1880, the third son of Gerrit Jan Koopman, (born in Holland in 1843), and Maria Elizabeth Polack, (born in Holland in 1847). The name "Koopman" is translated as Merchant, and the family and their ancestors (Chabot, Polack, Ledeboer, Laats, van Oordt and many other families related to Koopman through previous generations) were extremely good at trading, not coincidentally. Polack is possibly an indication of the origins of this family in Poland (Polack means "Polish person" in Dutch), but to date I have been unable to find hard evidence to corroborate this. There is a second family, Pollack, in the Netherlands, also a well known trading family, and there may be links with them, but again, I have not confirmed this so far.

The picture taken above was made in 1927 and is of the full nephew of Oma Eda (Oma Koopman - Ledeboer, born 1884 in Semarang, Indonesia). His name is Oom Jan Chabot. Oma Eda passed away in 1925 and was Omi's mother and my great-grandmother. The picture looks very gallic, and it was taken in Montreux in France. The Chabot family had escaped to Holland as they were likely Huguenots who were persecuted by the French monarchy and parliament because they were French Calvinists.

The Chabots were successful wine merchants who settled in Haarlem. It is not surprising to find that the Ledeboers, Oma Eda's family, were also successful wine merchants in Amsterdam in the 19th century. I am sure there are Chabot relatives in France and Holland. Our eldest son Coenraad studied at the American School of Antananarivo, Madagascar, where he had a teacher called Ms Chabot. Unfortunately I never knew the connection at that time and I am sorry to have missed the opportunity to find out more.

A photo of Opa Gerrit Jan Koopman and Maria Elizabeth Polack (Oma Polack) dated around 1860.

Click to go to "Opa Koopman" (Gustaaf Wilhelm)