W. R. van Hoëvell

Who was W. R. van Hoëvell?

Wolter Robert van Hoëvell was a Dutch minister, politician, reformer, and writer. Born into nobility and trained in the Dutch Reformed Church, he worked for eleven years as a minister in the Dutch East Indies. He led a Malay-speaking congregation, engaged in scholarly research and cultural activities, and became an outspoken critic of Dutch colonialism. His activism culminated when he acted as one of the leaders of a short-lived protest in 1848. During the event, a multi-ethnic group of Batavian inhabitants presented their grievances to the local government. As a result of his leadership in the protest, van Hoëvell was forced to resign his position in the Indies.

After his return to the Netherlands, he served as a member of parliament for the Dutch Liberal party from 1849 to 1862, and from 1862 until his death he was a member of the State Council. He used his political position to continue critiquing the Dutch colonial system; nicknamed "chief of the colonial opposition", he was the first Dutch politician to do so eloquently and knowledgeably, and inspired writers such as Multatuli.