20-11-2025
On 22 October Dr. Harry A. Poeze (KITLV) and Prof. Dr. Bernard Arps (Leiden University) received the Anugerah Kebudayaan Indonesia 2025 from the Indonesian Ministry of Culture as a reward for their lifelong dedication to Indonesian studies and cultural preservation. The Anugerah Kebudayaan Indonesia (Indonesian Cultural Award) celebrates those who dedicate their lives to preserving, developing, and promoting Indonesian heritage.
Harry Poeze is a honorary fellow at KITLV. His research interest is in the developments in the Indonesian political world since 1900, during Dutch colonial rule, the Japanese occupation, and the Indonesian Revolution in particular. He published a three-volume history of the Indonesian Left during the Indonesian Revolution, concentrating on the role of Tan Malaka, in 2007. Currently he is working on a publication about Indonesian political songs (1925-1965), the (revised) biography of Tan Malaka until 1945, and a monograph on Boven-Digoel, the Dutch colonial internment camp for political prisoners.
Previously Harry has been working for the NIOD-NIMH-KITLV research programme ‘Independence, Decolonization, Violence and War in Indonesia 1945-1950’ in a general supervisory and advisory capacity, contributing his expertise on developments in Indonesian politics and the Indonesian armed forces.
Harry studied Political Science at the University of Amsterdam, where he graduated in 1972. In 1976 he obtained his PhD in Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam with a thesis on the biography of the Indonesian political leader Tan Malaka. Since 1981 Harry has been working for KITLV as the head of the KITLV Press department, senior publisher, senior researcher and now after his retirement as honorary fellow at KITLV.