Abraham Blauvelt was a Dutch privateer, pirate and explorer of Central America in the 1630s, after whom both the and the neighboring town of Bluefields, Nicaragua were named. One of the last of the Dutch corsairs of the mid-17th century, Abraham Blauvelt was first recorded exploring the coasts of present-day Honduras and Nicaragua in service of the Dutch West India Company. He later traveled to England in an effort to gain support to establish a colony in Nicaragua near the city where Bluefields, Nicaragua presently stands. Around 1640 Blauvelt became a privateer serving the Swedish East India Company and in 1644 he commanded his own ship successfully raiding Spanish shipping from a base in southwest Jamaica, today known as , and selling the cargo and prizes to the Dutch colony of New Ams