Zymen Danseker

Siemen Danziger (c. 1579 – c. 1611), better known by his anglicized names Zymen Danseker and Simon de Danser, was a 17th century Dutch privateer and corsair. His name is also written Danziker, Dansker, or Danser.

Danseker and the English pirate John Ward were the two most prominent renegades operating in the Barbary coast during the early 17th century, both of whom were said to command squadrons in Algiers and Tunis equal to their European counterparts, and represented a formidable naval power as allies (much like Aruj and Hayreddin Barbarossa the previous century). Later in his Barbary career, Danseker became known by the Turkish epithet Simon Re'is.

He is suspected of teaching the Turks and the Moors to use sailing ships to go through the Strait of Gibraltar as early as 1601. Commanding a vast squadron made up of English and Turks while in the service of Algiers, he captured over 40 ships in a two-year period after "turning Turk" and was stopped only after his capture and execution in 1611. Both men are featured prominently in Kitab al-Munis fi Akhbar Ifriqiya wa Tunis written by Tunisian writer and historian Ibn Abi Dinar.