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During the launch of the book “Admired and Despised: the Life and Works of Christaan Snouck Hurgronje” by Leiden University Professor, Wim van den Doel - 

The Research Center for Society and Culture and the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV)-Jakarta together with the National Library (Perpusnas) of the Republic of Indonesia, the Pustaka Torches Foundation and the ANTARA Journalistic Photo Gallery held the launch of the book “Admired and Despised: the Life and Works of Christaan Snouck Hurgronje” by Leiden University Professor, Wim van den Doel, Saturday (13/5/2023).

Snouck Hurgronje is a historical figure, a scientist from the Netherlands whose story is controversial among historians. The book, translated from Dutch, describes the adventures of Snouck's life.
In his book, Wim van den Doel tells the life of Christaan ​​Snouck Hurgronje as a person who is full of nuances and extraordinary, despite the controversy over his being considered a spy.
“Snouck is very happy living with the Sundanese people. He really wanted to live a life among the Muslims. He didn't even like the Dutch living in Batavia just to get rich quick or to have a career as a Civil Servant. He doesn't like it at all,” said Wim.

Born in Oosterhout on February 8, 1857, continued Wim, Snouck had lived and studied in Mecca. Because of his intelligence and understanding of Islam, Snouck was appointed as an official adviser to the Dutch East Indies colonial government and played an active role in formulating the strategy for the Aceh War (1873–1913) with General van Heutsz.
In 1890, the book tells that Snouck married a Sundanese woman named Sangkana. People think that Snouck married a Sundanese just to get information and spy, but based on the letter that Wim read, this is not the case.

Together with Sangkana, Snouck was blessed with four children. When giving birth to her fifth child, Sangkana died with the baby being born. From the letter that Wim found, Snouck's life became dark.
Snouck didn't want to do anything, didn't want to eat. Snouck was completely shocked by his wife's death.
"Snouck wouldn't have done all of that if he didn't really love his wife," said Wim.

The Head of the National Library, Muhammad Syarif Bando said that as a Malay Professor at Leiden University, Snouck had written more than 1,400 articles about the situation in Aceh and the position of Islam in the Dutch East Indies.

His books have become reference material in various socio-anthropological studies and have inspired writers to create books, as well as educational materials for all walks of life.
"Snouck's great thoughts made him known as a colonial architect in the field of Islamic theology and its correlation in socio-cultural aspects," he said.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Sunday, the Head of National Library of Indonesia revealed that as a preservation and deposit institution, National Library continues to preserve, utilize, and disseminate Snouck Hurgronje's works.

Meanwhile, in a mini symposium, Professor of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Jajat Burhanudin explained that the Indonesian-Netherlands Cooperation in Islamic Studies (INIS) published a number of translated editions of books published by the Netherlands on Islam in Indonesia, including Snouck's work. However, the publication is very limited.

"Snouck's books are very limited in Indonesia which can be accessed by the general public," he said.
Jajat continued, starting from Java, Snouck's encounter with Indonesian Muslims was followed by observing the ways of Javanese clerics in practicing Islam so that the religion developed into an established system.

The book launch event was also attended by the President of Leiden University, Annetje Ottow; Leiden University Library Director, Kurt de Belder; Director of KITLV-Jakarta, Marrik Bellen; General Manager of the Indonesian Torch Library Foundation, Kartini Nurdin; and Professor of UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung, Jajang A. Rohmana.

The event was also enlivened by a photo exhibition from the digital collection of the Leiden University Library, the Netherlands. The exhibition will take place from 13-25 May 2023 in the Exhibition Zone, 4th floor of the RI National Library Service Facility Building//VOI