Pieter Johannes Veth

(1895)

Pieter Johannes Veth (December 2, 1814 in Dordrecht - April 14, 1895 in Arnhem) was a Dutch professor of geography and ethnology and the first Chairman of the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society.

Peter Veth, son of the Dordrecht ironmonger Hubert Veth and Cornelia Johanna Pickee, studied from 1832 to 1838 in Leiden. In 1854 he founded the Indian Association, from 1864 to 1877 Professor of Ethnology of the Dutch East Indies to the Indian Institute of Leiden, from 1877 to 1885 extraordinary professor of history, literature, antiquities, institutions, manners and customs of the peoples the Indian archipelago and physical geography of the Indonesian archipelago at the University of Leiden.

Veth was editor of The Guide and editor of the Journal for the Dutch East Indies. He was the first chairman of the 1873 established Royal Dutch Geographical Society (KNAG) and was chairman of the Society for Utilities' s General.

In Leiden, the building "Nuns Alley" of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Leiden was renamed the P.J. Veth building. The building housed the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) and the School of Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS). It is currently being renovated, and it is still uncertain whether and for which Leiden University, the building will be used. He is buried at the Essenhof in Dordrecht.

Biography

An Indian Love: PJ Veth (1814-1895) and the integration of the Dutch East Indies Amsterdam, Velde, Paul van der (2000) Balance