On the "Buitenkant" (translated in English: "Outside"), since the year 1897 called "Prins Hendrikkade" after Prince Hendrik, on No. 131 naval hero and fleet commander Admiral Michiel de Ruyter lived from 1654 to 1676.
Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter was born on March 24, 1607 in the city of Vlissingen (Flushing) in the Dutch province of Zeeland. He is one of the most famous Dutch admirals in history. He fought the English and French in several sea wars and scored major victories, the best known being the Raid on the Medway, resulting in the loss of the English flagship HMS Royal Charles and bringing the Dutch close to London.
On March 2nd, 1654 De Ruyter accepted an offer from the admiralty of Amsterdam to become their Vice-Admiral. He bought the house on "de Buitenkant" ("the Outside") in the harbor district of Amsterdam.
In 1676 he took command of a combined Dutch-Spanish fleet to help the Spanish suppress the Messina Revolt and fought a French fleet in a naval battle in the Bay of Syracuse in Italy, where he was fatally wounded when a cannonball hit his left leg.
On 18 March 1677 De Ruyter was given an elaborate state funeral when his body was buried in a mausoleum in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church) in Amsterdam. The mausoleum can be visited in the church.
