Totok is an Indonesian term of Javanese origin, used in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

to refer to recent migrants of

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

, Chinese or European origins. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it was popularised among colonists in Batavia, who initially coined the term to describe the foreign born and new immigrants of "pure blood" – as opposed to people of mixed indigenous and foreign descent, such as the ''

Peranakan The Peranakans () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (), namely the British Colonial ruled ports in the Malay Peninsula, ...

'' Arabs, Chinese or Europeans (the latter being better known as the

Indo people The Indo people ( nl, Indische Nederlanders, or Indos) are Eurasian people living in or connected with Indonesia. In its narrowest sense, the term refers to people in the former Dutch East Indies who held European legal status but were of ...

). When more pure-blooded Arabs, Chinese and Dutchmen were born in the East Indies, the term gained significance in describing those of exclusive or almost exclusive foreign ancestry. 'Peranakan' is the

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...

of 'Totok', the former meaning simply 'descendants' (of mixed roots), and the latter meaning 'pure'.Tan, Mely G. (2008) (in English and Indonesian), Etnis Tionghoa di Indonesia: Kumpulan Tulisan thnic Chinese in Indonesia: Collected Writings(Jakarta: Yayasan Obor Indonesia, 2008) p. 1

Notable Dutch Totoks and descendants

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een Indische familie met baboe in de tuin TMnr 60015969

* (Semarang, Java, 1922), founder of the

North Sea Jazz The North Sea Jazz Festival is an annual festival held each second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. It used to be in The Hague but since 2006 it has been held in Rotterdam. This is because the Statenhal where the festival w ...

festival * Albert Alberts (1911–1995), award winning author, journalist * Beb Bakhuys (1909–1982), football player and manager *

Ben Bot Bernard Rudolf "Ben" Bot (; born 21 November 1937) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 3 December 2003 until 22 February 2007 in the Cabinets Balke ...

(born in Batavia) (b. 1937), minister *

Hans van den Broek Henri "Hans" van den Broek (; born 11 December 1936) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and jurist who served as List of Euro ...

(b. 1936), minister *

Jeroen Brouwers Jeroen Godfried Marie Brouwers (30 April 1940 – 11 May 2022) was a Dutch writer. From 1964 to 1976 Brouwers worked as an editor at Manteau publishers in Brussels. In 1964 he made his literary debut with ''Het mes op de keel'' (''The Knife ...

(b. 1940), author * Conrad Busken Huet (1826–1886), newspaper editor on Java (1868–1876) *

Louis Couperus Louis Marie-Anne Couperus (10 June 1863 – 16 July 1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and ske ...

(1863–1923), childhood in Batavia, Java (1871–1877), author of ''The Hidden Force'' (1900) * P. A. Daum (1850–1898), newspaperman, author *

Johan Fabricius Johan Johannes Fabricius (24 August 1899 – 21 June 1981), who published in English as Johan Wigmore Fabricius, was a Dutch writer, journalist and adventurer. Fabricius was born in Bandung, Java. He wrote approximately 60 books, among them ...

(1899–1981), author of ''De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe'' (1923) *

Anthony Fokker Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...

(Blitar, Java, 1890–1939), aviation pioneer *

Hella Haasse Hélène "Hella" Serafia Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011) was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the "Grande Dame" of Dutch literature, and whose novel ''Oeroeg'' (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her ...

(Batavia, Java, 1918–2011), award winning author *

Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema Siebren Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (3 April 1917 – 26 September 2007) was a Dutch writer who became a resistance fighter and RAF pilot during the Second World War. Near the end of the war he was adjudant (assistant) to Queen Wilhelmina. He was ...

(Surabaya, Java, 1917–2007), decorated World War II hero * W. R. van Hoëvell (1812–1879), church minister of Batavia, political activist (1838–1848) *

Xaviera Hollander Xaviera Hollander (born 15 June 1943) is a Dutch former call girl, madam, and author. She is best known for her best-selling memoir '' The Happy Hooker: My Own Story''. Early life Hollander was born Xaviera "Vera" de Vries in Surabaya, Japanes ...

(b. 1943), author *

Rudy Kousbroek Herman Rudolf "Rudy" Kousbroek (1 November 1929 – 4 April 2010) was a Dutch poet, translator, writer and first of all essayist. He was a prominent figure in Dutch cultural life between 1950 and 2010 and one of the most outspoken atheists in the ...

(1929–2010), author *

Liesbeth List Elisabeth Dorathea List, generally known as Liesbeth List (December 12, 1941 – March 25, 2020) was a Dutch singer, stage actress and television personality. She became popular during the 1960s and frequently collaborated with Ramses Shaffy. Sh ...

(b. 1941), singer *

Multatuli Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 182019 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latin ''multa tulī'', "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel ''Max Havelaar'' (1860), which denounced the a ...

(1820–1887), resident on Ambon and Java (1838–1858), iconic author * , artist, singer *

Willem Oltmans Willem Leonard Oltmans (addressed as William Oltmans in some English publications; 10 June 1925 – 30 September 2004) was a Dutch investigative journalist and author active in international politics. Due to the highly critical stance he often ...

(1925–2004), journalist, author * Helga Ruebsamen (1934–2016), author *

F. Springer F. Springer (15 January 1932 – 7 November 2011) was the pseudonym of Carel Jan Schneider, a Dutch foreign service diplomat and writer. Schneider was born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. He spent World War II in a Japanese internment camp, and su ...

(1932–2011), author *

Bram van der Stok Bram van der Stok, (13 October 1915 – 8 February 1993), also known as Bob van der Stok, was a World War II fighter pilot and flying ace, and is the most decorated aviator in Dutch history. In March 1944, he broke out of Stalag Luft III – ...

(Plaju, Sumatra, 1915–1993), decorated World War II hero *

Madelon Szekely-Lulofs Madelon Szekely-Lulofs (24 June 1899 in Surabaya – 22 May 1958 in Santpoort) was a Dutch writer and journalist, best known for writing novels that were set in the former Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia. Biography Szekely-Lulofs was born on ...

(Surabaya, 1899–1958) author of ''

Rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

''(1931) and ''Koelie'' (1931) ''Koelie'' by Madelon Szekely-Lulofs on DBNL website
*

Peter Tazelaar Peter Tazelaar (5 May 1920 – 6 June 1993) was a member of the Dutch resistance during World War II and worked as an agent for the SOE. Following the war he served in Dutch East Indies, before returning to Europe to work behind the Iron Curtai ...

(Bukittingi, Sumatra, 1922–1993), decorated World War II hero * Edgar Vos (Makassar, 1931-2010), fashion designer * Margaretha Geertruida Zelle (1876–1917), known as

Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (née Zelle; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari (), was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by ...

, exotic dancer, spy

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Bosman, Ulbe and Raben, Remco. ''De oude Indische wereld 1500–1920''. (Bert Bakker, Amsterdam 2003) * Sastrowardoyo, Subagio ''Sastra Hindia Belanda dan kita'' (Publisher: PT

Balai Pustaka Balai Pustaka (; also spelled Balai Poestaka, both meaning "Bureau of Literature") is the state-owned publisher of Indonesia and publisher of major pieces of Indonesian literature such as ''Salah Asuhan'', ''Sitti Nurbaya'' and '' Layar Terkem ...

, Jakarta, 1990
p. 21
* Taylor, Jean Gelman. ''The Social World of Batavia: European and Eurasian in Dutch Asia'' (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1983). * Taylor, Jean Gelman. ''Indonesia: Peoples and Histories'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2003).

External links

Retrieved 13 Mar 2012. {{White people terms Dutch diaspora in Asia Dutch East Indies Ethnic groups in Indonesia Indonesian people of Dutch descent Indonesian people of European descent

Notable Dutch Totoks and descendants

See also

References

Citations

Bibliography

External links