Johannes Siberg
Anonymous portrait,c. 1801–1805
Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies
In office 22 August 1801 – 19 October 1804
Appointed by	Batavian Republic
Preceded by	Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten
Succeeded by	Albertus Henricus Wiese
Personal details
Born	(1740-10-14)14 October 1740 Rotterdam,Dutch Republic
Died	18 June 1817(1817-06-18) (aged 76) Batavia, Dutch East Indies (present-dayIndonesia)

Johannes Siberg (14 October 1740 – 18 June 1817) wasGovernor-General of the Dutch East Indies from 1801 to 1804,^[1] during which time control of the Dutch Indies passed from theDutch East India Company (VOC) to theNapoleonicDutch State in the guise of theBatavian Republic (later superseded by theKingdom of Holland) which took over much of Dutch territory and broke their monopoly of trade. Local kings and princes took the opportunity of troubled times to try to reassert themselves. The various governments in the homeland tried various means to retrieve matters, including troop reinforcements and reforms, finally formally taking over the government functions of the VOC. Siberg resisted many of the reforms, and continued to do so after being removed from office.

Johannes (or Joannes) Siberg born on 14 October 1740 inRotterdam. When he was 18 years old, he left for theIndies as acontabelsmaat (assistant artillery master). He soon gave up the sea and climbed expertly through the Company's ranks – Underbuyer (onderkoopman) in 1770, Buyer (koopman) in 1771, to reach Senior Buyer (opperkoopman) in 1776. He married the daughter ofWillem Arnold Alting (soon to be Governor-General) and shortly after that left forPanang to be the governor (gezaghebber) ofSumatra's West Coast. In 1780, he became Governor and Director ofJava's Northwest Coast. He occupied this extremely lucrative post for seven years and became enormously wealthy. Meanwhile, in 1782 he became Counsellor-extraordinary (buitengewoon Raad) in the DutchCouncil of the Indies.

After returning toBatavia, in 1787, he became President of the Schepenbank (the Bench ofAldermen, dealing with local administration), as well as a colonel in the localmilitia. In 1791, he was appointed full Counsellor of the Indies (Raad van Indië); in 1793 he was First Counsellor and Director-General (Eerste Raad en Directeur-Generaal). At the same time his father-in-law managed to get him appointed one of the threeCommissarissen-Generaal (Commissioners General sent to re-organise the Dutch possessions in the face of British and French incursions, as well as restive native rulers). This duo managed to concentrate a lot of power in their hands, and those of their wider family attachments, especially after the newBatavian Republic merged theCommissie-generaal with theRaad van Indië (Council of the Indies). In 1800, the Batavian Republic took over formal control of the government ofNederlands-Indië (as it was now called) and vested authority in Council for the Asian Possessions, (Raad der Aziatische Bezittingen) whose combined assembly was packed with family members. They acted as a brake on much needed reforms, and lost ground to the British in particular.

In 1801, following the death of his predecessor,Pieter Gerardus van Overstraten, he became acting Governor-General, and, one year later, was confirmed in the full, official function by theBatavian Republic. In 1802, thePeace of Amiens (ending the first phase of theNapoleonic Wars) also ended the Dutch trading monopoly, and they came under increasing British pressure. Following accusations of corruption and financial bungling, he was removed from office in 1804. In 1806, theKingdom of Holland replaced the Batavian Republic. The new (Napoleonic) Kingdom established aMinistry of the Colonies to deal with Indian affairs. The new Governor-GeneralAlbertus Henricus Wiese was charged with making much needed reforms. Siberg, however, remained in the Indies, as leader of theOudgastenpartij, a group of conservative landowners and merchants, still influencing (or interfering with, or frustrating, according to taste) his successors' attempts at reforms. He died inBatavia on 18 June 1817.

• 1740 births
• 1817 deaths
• Military personnel from Rotterdam
• Governors-general of the Dutch East Indies
• 19th-century Dutch East Indies people

• CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata