Joan Gideon Loten | |
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| 29th Governor of Zeylan | |
| In office 10 September 1752 – 17 March 1757 | |
| Preceded by | Jacob de Jong as acting governor |
| Succeeded by | Jan Schreuder |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 16 May 1710 |
| Died | 25 February 1789 (aged 78) |
Joan Gideon Loten (also spelt Johan or John, in school records as Johannes Gideon Looten; 16 May 1710 – 25 February 1789) was a Dutch servant in the colonies of the Dutch East India Company, the 29th Governor of Zeylan, Fellow of the Royal Society (elected 1760) and Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (elected 1761). During his time in the colonies he made collections of natural history. In 1758 he moved to Holland. Nine months after his return from the Dutch East Indies he moved to London, where he lived for 22 years and interacted with scholarly societies and shared his natural history illustrations and collections. The sunbird species Cinnyris lotenius is named after him