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About Hendrik Jacob Wikar
- Henrik Jakob Wikar or Hendrik Jakob Wikar (born 28 October 1752 Kokkola, Finland (at that time Sweden)) was a Finnish explorer who travelled in Southern Africa and wrote his journal describing the life of the Khoisan people. Wikar's father was Jakob Johan Wikar, a land surveyor and a deputy of the Riksdag of the Estates, and his mother was Margareta Carlborg, his father's second wife.Wikar came from Ostrobothnia and studied in The Royal Academy of Turku in 1769.
- In 1773 he was employed in Holland by Dutch East India Company.
- He worked as a clerk in Cape Town in the company's hospital.
- He did not manage well and left in 1775 to the north of the Colony where he stayed for four years.
- From 1778 to July 1779 he wrote his journal there.
- He was convicted in 1779 as a runagate but his journal saved him: he was pardoned autumn 1779, probably because the journal included some important notes for the Company.
- He described the rituals and customs of the Khoisan people, and numerous scientists have used his records.
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