Robert Nieuwenhuys was a Dutch writer of Indo descent. The son of a 'Totok' Dutchman and an Indo-European mother, he and his younger brother Roelof, grew up in Batavia, where his father was the managing director of the renowned Hotel des Indes. His Indies childhood profoundly influenced his life and work. His Javanese nanny 'nènèk' Tidjah and particularly his Eurasian mother created the benchmarks of his childhood environment. In his award winning book Oost-Indische spiegel, he states: "If I write about my childhood, I write about her world." and "My Indies youth was critical to my receptiveness to particular cultural patterns. It ingrained a relationship with Indonesia that is irreplaceable." Nieuwenhuys is the Nestor of Dutch Indies literature.
Life
In 1927 he moved to the Netherlands and enrolled in the University of Leiden, but he abhorred academic life and never completed his study at the Faculty of Arts. He did however become acquainted with Indonesian nationalists studying in the Netherlands and adopted anti-colonial convictions. In 1935 he returned to the Dutch East Indies and befriended his mentor, the iconic Indo writer E. du Perron. Perron influenced him to study the literary work of P.A. Daum and upcoming writer Beb Vuyk. He joined anti-colonial magazines as a writer, researcher and critic. In 1941 he was a conscript medic in the KNIL and from 1942 to 1945 a Japanese POW. In the Japanese concentration campTjimahi he was part of a small group of intellectuals, including Leo Vroman and the iconic Tjalie Robinson, that for a while was able to print a camp periodical named 'Kampkroniek' and a pamphlet named 'Onschendbaar Domein'. From 1945–1947 he stayed in the Netherlands to recuperate from the war and evaded the violence of the Bersiap period. In 1947 he returned to his land of birth during the continuing Indonesian revolution and set up a cultural and literary magazine in an attempt to mitigate the Dutch-Indonesian alienation via art and literature. Although Indonesian intellectuals and artists were receptive to this unique forum political developments and strong anti-Dutch sentiments surpassed all good intentions. In 1952, 4 years into Indonesian independence, Nieuwenhuys repatriated to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands Nieuwenhuys became a teacher and pursued a literary career. He became a highly influential literary scholar and author and won numerous awards throughout his career, among them the 1983 Constantijn Huygens Prize. Nieuwenhuys' magnum opus is the authoritative literary classicMirror of the Indies: A History of Dutch Colonial Literature, the main reference book regarding Dutch Indies literature
Prizes
1959 – 'Essay prize Amsterdam' for De zaak Lebak na honderd jaar
1973 – 'Special prize Jan Campert foundation' for Oost-Indische spiegel
1975 – 'Dr. Wijnaendts Francken prize' for Oost-Indische spiegel
1983 – 'Constantijn Huygens prize' for complete work
