Rob Nieuwenhuys | |
|---|---|
 Nieuwenhuijs, c. 1940 | |
| Born | Robert Nieuwenhuijs 30 June 1908 Semarang, Dutch East Indies |
| Died | 8 November 1999 (aged 91) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Occupation | Writer, author, journalist, historian |
| Nationality | Dutch |
Robert Nieuwenhuys (30 June 1908 – 8 November 1999) 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' (English: grandma) 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.