Jean Victor de Bruijn
Jean Victor de Bruijn | |
|---|---|
De Bruijn, with Moluccan police and highland companions, on patrol east of Beoga, 1941 | |
| Assistant District Officer of Saparua Island | |
| In office 1938–1939 | |
| District Officer of New Guinea Highlands | |
| In office 1939–1943 | |
| District Officer of Biak Island | |
| In office 1946–1950 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 25 November 1913 Mertojoedan, near Magelang, Java, Dutch East Indies |
| Died | 12 February 1979 (aged 65) Driebergen, Netherlands |
| Parents |
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| Awards | Netherlands Cross of Merit Netherland Bronze Cross Order of Orange-Nassau Honorary degree, University of Leiden |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Dutch Empire |
| Branch/service | Royal Netherlands Army Royal Netherlands East Indies Army |
| Years of service | c. 1942–1944 |
| Battles/wars | |
Jean Victor de Bruijn (25 November 1913 – 12 February 1979) was a Dutch district officer, soldier, explorer, ethnologist and writer. He spent most of his life in the Dutch East Indies, especially in Dutch New Guinea, working as a colonial administrator and an ethnologist. He gained fame for holding out with native Papuan soldiers in mountainous interior of Western New Guinea against overwhelming Japanese forces, as part of Operation Oaktree, maintaining one of the last Dutch-controlled outposts in the Dutch East Indies during World War II.