10 Tala - Tanumafili II Jakob Le Maire

Jakob Le Maire led the 1615–1616 Dutch expedition that discovered a new route around the southern tip of South America, bypassing the Strait of Magellan and rounding what he named Kaap Hoorn — Cape Horn — after his home city of Hoorn. The voyage directly challenged the trade monopoly held by the Dutch East India Company, which promptly had Le Maire arrested upon his return to Amsterdam. He died at sea before reaching home for trial.

Samoa's interest in this history is not incidental — Le Maire's expedition was among the earliest European voyages to pass through the Pacific on the new southern route, threading waters adjacent to Polynesia.