François Caron

François Caron was a French Huguenot refugee to the Netherlands who served the Dutch East India Company for 30 years, rising from cook's mate to the director-general at Batavia (Jakarta), only one grade below governor-general. He retired from the VOC in 1651, and was later recruited to become director-general of the newly formed French East Indies Company in 1665 until his death in 1673.