Hieronim Erazm
| Hieronim Erazm | |
 | |
| Full name | Hieronim Ludwig Erazm |
|---|---|
| AKA | President Raz |
| Physical information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color and style | Blonde |
| Eye color | Grey |
| Skin color | Light |
| Other | Trimmed ginger beard |
| Biographical information | |
| Father(s) | Gerardim Erazm |
| Mother(s) | Kaatje Blutwasser |
| Date of birth | 1636 |
| Place of birth | Walstadt, Natopia |
| Date of death | / |
| Place of death | / |
| Residence(s) | Driftwood |
| Nationality | Jingdaoese, Natopian |
| Allegiance(s) | Alrig |
| Occupation | President of Alrig |
Early life
Hieronim Ludwig Erazm is the first president and founder of Alrig. Erazm was born in 1636 in the Principality of Walstadt, Natopia, as the son of a Jingdaoese trader and a daughter of Prince Theodor of Walstadt. As the Blutwasser dynasty lost control over the principality when Hieronim was only one year old, the family Erazm and many others fled Natopia. The family moved to Jingdao, but had great difficulty finding their place in the closed culture of the Jingdaoese Empire.
The Old Oil Rig
In order to regain some of their freedom, Erazm bought a small trading vessel and hired a crew to make his living on the high seas. On one of their voyages over the high seas, they encountered an abandoned Jingdaoese oil rig where they moored. In order to avoid having to pay taxes over his stock, he made it his warehouse. As operations grew, the oil rig became noticed by pirates who tried to steal his goods. Hieronim Erazm hired a guard, supplied them with uniforms he had designed himself and saw the potential to create a nation calling it the Old Oil Rig. He styled himself both generalissimo and president of this new nation. In late 1656 a frogman belonging to Shireroth's navy Apollonian Command, which claimed that the nation was a navigation hazard, made an attempt to bomb the new nation. While the attack was unsuccessful, Erazm recognized the danger and began to petition the Micras Treaty Organisation to recognize his nation in 1657, which was accepted.
Colonization of Apollonia
In 1658 a severe storm washed away the oil rig and caused it to strand on the southern Apollonian shore. Despite the bad luck Erazm did not lose his hope and together with the descendants of the Flemish and Batavian population in this region he set up a new nation in the land. The move to Apollonia also sparked interest in the Imperial Palace of Jingdao, and in 1661 the Jingdaoese Empire formally declared that all their territories would be annexed into the Jingdaoese Empire. Erazm rejected the annexation attempt but also realized his small nation would be no match to the force of the Jingdaoese army. Behind closed doors a deal was worked out, which was presented in 1663. The nation would become part of the Jingdaoese internal market, the nation itself would physically move closer to the Jingdaoese border and would form an alliance. On the same day a new constitution for the nation was also presented, under which the name was changed to Alrig. More important than the name change was the introduction of a legislative organ, the Council of Driftwood, in which all grand land owners of the republic would have a seat. It was decided that there would be elections for the position of president, but not before the year 2020 in the Swedish calendar and that Erazm would remain president until then.
Space
In 1675, president Hieronim Erazm became the first Alriggian national in space. He was part of the Common Cosmos Colonization Coalition's first Orbital Command crew and presided over the Council of Driftwood via conference calls, but mostly by delegating. Exploring space was one of the last unfulfilled childhood dreams Erazm held, after he had explored the oceans of Micras in his younger years.
