Albert Christian Kruyt

Albert Christian Kruyt
Albertus Christiaan Kruyt
Kruyt in his final years
Born	Albertus Christiaan Kruijt (1869-10-10)10 October 1869 Mojowarno, Jombang, Dutch East Indies
Died	19 January 1949(1949-01-19) (aged 79) The Hague, Netherlands
Occupations	Missionary ethnographer theologian author
Notable work	De Bare'e-sprekende Toradja's van Midden-Celebes [id]
School	Reformed, Calvinist

Albert Christian Kruyt (Dutch: Albertus Christiaan Kruyt; 10 October 1869 – 19 January 1949) was a Dutch Calvinist missionary, ethnographer and theologian who pioneered Christianity in Poso, Indonesia.[1]

Born in Mojowarno, East Java, in 1869, Kruyt grew up in a missionary family[2] and went to the Netherlands for education in 1877. Returning to the Indies in 1890, he was stationed in Gorontalo. The Nederlandsch Zendelinggenootschap (NZG, Netherlands Missionary Society) sent him to establish a new mission in Poso in 1892.[3][4] Despite early setbacks, the first baptism occurred in 1909, and the number of converts grew steadily.[5] His mission expanded through the highlands to the Gulf of Bone by the 1920s.[6] Elected a corresponding member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1898, Kruyt resigned in 1932 but became a regular member in 1933.[7] Kruyt left the Dutch East Indies in 1932 and died in The Hague in 1949.

Kruyt is known for his ethno-sociological approach, believing that understanding local cultures was essential for successful missionary work.[8] He argued that missionaries must understand the link between thought and community life to win hearts[9] and preferred voluntary conversions over coercion.[10] Kruyt is regarded as a leading theorist, missionary, and ethnographer of the early 20th century.[11] His mission in Poso and Central Sulawesi was a significant success.[6] His works on ethnography and evangelism are highly valued, especially the book he co-authored with Nicolaus Adriani, De Bare'e-sprekende Toradja's van Midden-Celebes (The Bare'e speaking Toraja of Central Sulawesi), which remains a key ethnological resource.[12]

References

1. Enklaar 1978, p. 111; Schrauwers 2000, p. 5; Aragon 2000, p. 101.
2. Enklaar 1978, p. 111; Keane 2007, pp. 97–98.
3. Aragon 2000, p. 101; Coté 2010, p. 12.
4. Henley 2005, p. 47.
5. Aragon 2000, p. 104.
6. Schrauwers 2000, p. 9.
7. "A.C. Kruyt (1869 - 1949)". Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
8. Kruyt 1915, pp. 86–87.
9. Schoor-Lambregts 1992, p. 104.
10. Aragon 2000, p. 103.
11. Coté 2010, p. 14; Hefner 2001, p. 575.
12. Rassers 1949, p. 163.

Sources

• Aragon, Lorraine [in Indonesian] (2000). Fields of the Lord: Animism, Christianity, and State Development in Indonesia. University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 978-0-82-482303-0. LCCN 99058189.
• Hefner, Robert W. (2001). "Fields of the Lord: Animism, Christian Minorities, and State Development in Indonesia". Book Reviews - Anthropology of religion. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 7 (3): 612–623. doi:10.1111/1467-9655.00079.
• Henley, David [in Indonesian] (2005). Fertility, Food and Fever: Population, Economy and Environment in North and Central Sulawesi, 1600-1930. Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (201). KITLV Press. ISBN 978-9-06-718209-6. LCCN 2006402352.
• Keane, Webb (2007). Christian Moderns: Freedom and Fetish in the Mission Encounter. The Anthropology of Christianity. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-52-093921-9. LCCN 2006019220.
• Schrauwers, Albert [in Indonesian] (2000). Colonial 'reformation' in the Highlands of Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, 1892–1995. Anthropological Horizons (14). University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-0-80-208303-6. LCCN 00698098.

Bibliography

Primary sources

• Kruyt, Albert Christian (1915). "The Presentation of Christianity to Primitive Peoples: The Toradja Tribes of Central Sulawesi". International Review of Mission. 4 (1): 81–95. doi:10.1111/j.1758-6631.1915.tb00766.x.

Publications

• Brouwer, Klaas Johan (1951). Dr A. C. Kruyt: dienaar der Toradja's (in Dutch). J. N. Voorhoeve.
• Boetzelaer, C. W. Th. van [in Indonesian] (1949). "Albertus Christiaan Kruyt (1869–1949)". Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (in Dutch). 105: 143–146. doi:10.1163/22134379-90002492.
• Coté, Joost (2010). "Missionary Albert Kruyt and Colonial Modernity in the Dutch East Indies". Itinerario. 34 (3): 11–24. doi:10.1017/S0165115310000653. S2CID 161927061.
• Enklaar, Ido Hendricus (1978). "Kruyt, Albertus Christiaan". Biografisch Lexicon voor de geschiedenis van het Nederlands Protestantisme. Nachruf (in Dutch). Vol. 1. J. H. Kok. pp. 111–113.
• Enklaar, Ido Hendricus (1981). "Kom over en help ons!" Twaalf opstellen over de Nederlandse zending in de negentiende eeuw (in Dutch). Boekencentrum.
• Noort, Gerrit [in Indonesian] (2006). De weg van magie tot geloof: Leven en werk van Albert C. Kruyt (1869-1949), zendeling-leraar in Midden-Celebes, Indonesië [The Path from Magic to Faith: The Life and Work of Albert C. Kruyt (1869-1949), Missionary-Teacher in Central Celebes, Indonesia] (in Dutch). University of Utrecht. ISBN 978-9-02-392155-4.
• Rassers, Willem Huibert [in Indonesian] (1949). "Herdenking van Albertus Christiaan Kruyt". Jaarboek, 1948-1949. Nachruf (in Dutch). Vol. 1948–1949. Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. pp. 161–170. hdl:2027/mdp.39015073712591.
• Schoor-Lambregts, A.J. van der (1992). "Het heerlijke en schoone werk der Zending: Alb. C. Kruyt over Celebes". Indische Letteren (in Dutch). Vol. 7, no. 4. Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde. pp. 98–108.