PhD Defence Posthumus alumna Tessa De Boer

On 7 May 2025 Posthumus alumna Tessa de Boer will defend her PhD thesis ‘A Truth Universally Acknowledged. Dutch Investment in French Colonial Resources in the Eighteenth Century’ at Leiden University. Supervisors are Professor Cátia Antunes (Leiden University) and Dr Elisabeth Heijmans (University of Antwerp).

Tessa’s dissertation focuses on Dutch investments in the French colonial empire in the eighteenth century. During this period, the French empire was encapsulated by a strict framework of protectionist legislation (the Exclusif), aiming to reduce foreign interference in and dependence on foreign resources to operationalize the empire. In spite of this, business entities in the Dutch Republic were able to actively participate in the French colonial economy. Furthermore, Dutch-supplied credit played an important role in the financial circuits of the French empire. The dissertation analyses the commercial, political and social strategies that effectuated these investments. On a broader scale, these prominent investments in the ‘empire of another’ (in this case France) prove that the Dutch involvement in the colonial past goes beyond the Dutch colonies alone.

The N.W. Posthumus Institute staff wishes Tessa a successful defence!