Frans Hendrik Karel Zaalberg (26 November 1873 – 13 February 1928) was an
Indo
Indo may refer to:
* Indo-, a prefix indicating India or the Indian Subcontinent
* Indonesia, a country in Asia
** INDO LINES, callsign of Indonesian Airlines
** Indo people, people of mixed European and Indonesian ancestry
** Indo cuisine, fusion ...
(Eurasian) journalist and politician in the Dutch East Indies.
He was born in
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
,
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...
,
Dutch East Indies, and also died there. He was the son of a Dutch father Pieter Jacobus Adrianus Zaalberg, Secretary at the Department of Education and Religious Affairs in the Dutch East Indies, and Indo (Eurasian) mother Susanna Elisabeth de Bie. He was married to Maria Taunay (born 1878) from 22 April 1899 up to her death in 1911. Both the Zaalberg and De Bie family were of
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
descent. They had two sons and three daughters, one of whom died young.
Karel Zaalberg was a self-taught and
self-made man
"Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...
. With only primary school he became chief editor of one of the biggest newspapers. Education for the Indo-Europeans of the Dutch East Indies would be his life's personal and political ambition. As a journalist he became a spokesman for the Indo-European (
Eurasian
Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Ja ...
) community.
He was director of the first organization for Indo-Europeans in the Dutch East Indies ('Indische Bond' of 1898). After 1919 he became a founder and board member of the Indo-European Alliance (Dutch: ‘
Indo Europeesch Verbond'), with over 10,000 members the largest interest group of this population. From 1924 until his death, four years later, he represented the party in the Dutch East Indies
People's Council (
Volksraad).
Zaalberg was a leading figure in the political and social emancipation of the Indo (Eurasian) community of the Dutch East Indies of the late 19th and early 20th century, who had closely befriended famous figures of the time like writer
P.A. Daum,
E.du Perron and independence activist
Ernest Douwes Dekker
Ernest François Eugène Douwes Dekker also known as '' Setyabudi'' or ''Setiabudi'' (8 October 1879 – 28 August 1950) was an Indonesian-Dutch nationalist and politician of Indo descent. He was related to the famous Dutch anti-colonialism wri ...
.
Early years
Due to a traffic accident his father became disabled and the impoverished family was unable to send their children to any form of higher or even secondary education. Young Zaalberg found a simple and low-ranking job at a big newspaper (copying addresses). It is there, however, where the intelligent Zaalberg learned the ropes of journalism, as well as
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
and
French (by translating foreign newspaper articles and
telegrams
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas p ...
).
The editor in chief
P.A. Daum, who was one of the most famous writers and journalists of the time, started to notice Zaalberg's talents and gave him more and more responsibilities. Daum, an
autodidact himself, soon made Zaalberg his right-hand man, taking position against the widespread discrimination regarding Indos, who were seldom admitted to the highest layers of the colonial hierarchy. After Daum fell seriously ill Zaalberg replaced him successfully, but after the passing of his mentor the newspaper did not allow Zaalberg to replace him as editor in chief. The new chief editors failed miserably and the position remained vacant for a long time. Only after threatening to quit Zaalberg was appointed
Chief Editor of the '
Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad
The ''Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad'' (; Batavian Newspaper) was one of the leading and largest daily newspapers in the Dutch East Indies. It was based in Batavia (now Jakarta) on Java, but read throughout the archipelago. It was founded by the famous ...
'.
Politics
Meanwhile, Zaalberg had also emerged himself into politics and became a champion of the interests of the Indo Eurasians. His attention was focused on the acquisition of civil rights, including the right of political association and the right to vote, for native-born (Indo-)Europeans as well as educated
Javanese and
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
. He also published several articles on the need of education for the native population and increasing involvement in the government of the archipelago.
The appointment of Ernest Douwes Dekker (an Indo like Zaalberg) as deputy editor in 1907 increased the political momentum of the 'Batavian Newspaper'. It had good contacts with young Javanese intellectuals and was actively involved in the formation of ‘Boedi Oetomo’ an event which is seen as the beginning of
Indonesian nationalism
Indonesian nationalism is an ideology that arose during the Dutch colonial era in the Dutch East Indies which called for the colony's independence and unification as an independent and sovereign nation. This period of nationalist development und ...
. The close friendship between Douwes Dekker and Zaalberg initially led to joint plans with '
Budi Utomo
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, logo =
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' to aim for a parliament representing all native communities, including the Indo Eurasians.
Even though Zaalberg was opposed to the colonial policy of the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
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, that in his opinion seemed ignorant to the inevitable struggle for emancipation of the Indonesian peoples, Zaalberg was not a radical revolutionary. His sharp and biting criticism was always framed in a
positivist worldview, in which gradual and reasonable development, also with regard to the colonial relationship, remained paramount. Unlike Dekker who in the tradition of his famous ancestor, the writer of '
Max Havelaar
''Max Havelaar; or, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company'' ( nl, Max Havelaar; of, De koffi-veilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappy) is an 1860 novel by Multatuli (the pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), which played a key rol ...
', did not hesitate to taunt the authorities. This is also where the radical Dekker and the moderate Zaalberg fell out and went their separate ways. Dekker went on to found the '
Indische Party
The Indische Partij (IP) or Indies Party was a short-lived but influential political organisation founded in 1912 by the Indo-European (Eurasian) journalist E.F.E. Douwes Dekker and the Javanese physicians Tjipto Mangoenkoesoemo and Soewardi So ...
' in 1912 and Zaalberg the 'Indo Europeesch Vebond' in 1919.
Final years
After his breakup with Dekker, coinciding with a temporary decline of his journalistic career and the death of his beloved wife, his health started failing. He still however experienced his finest hour when he acted as chairman at the founding meeting of the Indo-European Alliance (Dutch: ‘
Indo Europeesch Verbond') in 1919. As board member of the 'IEV' he became a representative in the Dutch East Indies 'Volksraad' (House of Assembly), an infant form of local parliament, where he remained highly vocal about the need for native educational facilities. At age 53 he succumbed to his health issues. Under the leadership of his successor
Dick de Hoog his 'IEV' would become the single most important Indo movement in the Dutch East Indies, with close to 15,000 members.
Although he is widely acknowledged as one of the great leaders driving the
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
of the Indo community in Dutch ruled colonial society, his personal dream of building a large educated political Indo cadre that could lead the East Indies to independence was never realised. In fact in the end his biggest fear came to be. After further detrimental marginalisation the vulnerable Indo community was squashed in the inevitable clash between Dutch colonialism and the Indonesian independence movement.
[Postma, Ulbe: ''Karel Zaalberg, journalist en strijder voor de Indo.'' (Publisher KITLV, Leiden, 1997.)]
References
Bibliography
* Postma, Ulbe ''Karel Zaalberg, journalist en strijder voor de Indo.'' (Publisher KITLV, Leiden, 1997)
External links
Biography review 1. Biography review 2.
Notes and citations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaalberg, Karel
1873 births
1928 deaths
Indo people
Dutch journalists
Indonesian journalists
Members of the Volksraad (Dutch East Indies)
People from Batavia, Dutch East Indies
Dutch people of Indonesian descent
Dutch Jews
Jewish Dutch politicians
Jewish Dutch writers
19th-century Dutch East Indies people
20th-century Dutch East Indies people