Johannes François Snelleman
Johannes François Snelleman (26 December 1852 – 18 May 1938) was a Dutch zoologist, orientalist, ethnographer and museum director. He was a son of Christiaan Snelleman and Sara Lacombe. Snelleman was married three times, to Josepha Hendrika Dupont, Catharina Johanna Elisabeth Augusta Inckel, and Theodora Maria Beun.
Johannes François Snelleman
Daniël David Veth · Collectie Wereldmuseum (v/h Tropenmuseum), part of the National Museum of World Cultures · Wereldmuseum Amsterdam · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Name
- Johannes François Snelleman
- Born
- 26 December 1852
- Birthplace
- Rotterdam, The Netherlands
- Died
- 18 May 1938
- Place of death
- The Hague, The Netherlands
- Occupation
- Orientalist, ethnographer, museum director
- Nationality
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Known for
- Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië
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Documentary summary
Johannes François Snelleman (26 December 1852 – 18 May 1938) was a Dutch zoologist, orientalist, ethnographer and museum director. He was a son of Christiaan Snelleman and Sara Lacombe. Snelleman was married three times, to Josepha Hendrika Dupont, Catharina Johanna Elisabeth Augusta Inckel, and Theodora Maria Beun.
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Note VALÉORINE
Johannes François Snelleman (1852–1938) was a Dutch anthropologist, curator and ethnologist, among other activities. Born in Rotterdam, the anthropologist died in The Hague. Johannes François Snelleman held the position of museum director.
Works include Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië. Works by the anthropologist are held at National Museum of World Cultures, Netherlands Photo Museum and Wereldmuseum Rotterdam.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 26 September 2026
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In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Johannes François Snelleman • Born — 26 December 1852 • Birthplace — Rotterdam, The Netherlands • Died — 18 May 1938 • Place of death — The Hague, The Netherlands • Occupation — Orientalist, ethnographer, museum director
Museum director
Museum director
In 1901, Snelleman was appointed director of the Ethnologisch Museum (Ethnological Museum) in Rotterdam (later named Museum voor Land- en Volkenkunde and currently Wereldmuseum Rotterdam) and the Maritiem Museum 'Prins Hendrik' (Maritime Museum 'Prince Hendrik') in that city. These two, thematically unconnected museums, were placed under a single directorship in 1885. He kept this position until early 1915, when he took his retirement due to ill-health.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Rotterdam.
Birth place
The Hague.
Death place
Expeditions and publications
Between 1887 and 1889 Snelleman participated as zoologist in a scientific expedition to Central Sumatra (Netherlands East Indies), with the objective to map the Hari River basin to do research into the natural environment and the people. The expedition, organised by the Royal Netherlands Geographical Society, was led by lieutenant Johannes Schouw Santvoort, Royal Dutch Navy, with members D.D. Veth (son of KNAG chairman P.J. Veth) and A.L. van Hasselt. Snelleman wrote a book about the expedition. After the Sumatra Expedition Snelleman and Veth senior and junior kept a close contact. During a later KNAG expedition in Angola in 1884/'85, D.D. Veth died of exhaustion. Together with his father P.J. Veth, Snelleman wrote a book about D.D. Veth and the expedition in South West Africa. Later, Snelleman would cooperate in a book series published by Veth, and titled Java, geographisch, ethnologisch, historisch (Java: geography, ethnography, history). In 1892, he co-authored Industrie des Cafres du sud-est de l'Afrique on Southeast African collections in the Netherlands with Hendrik Muller. Snelleman was editor of the four volume Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indië (Encyclopedia the Netherlands Indies), started in 1896 with P.A. van der Lith as sole editor. Snelleman cooperated with Van der Lith on volume two (1899) and became joint editor for volume three (1902). After the death of Van der Lith in March 1901, Snelleman completed the final volume (1905) as sole editor. Together with H.D. Benjamins, Snelleman published the Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië (Encyclopedia of the Dutch West Indies) With the same Benjamins, Snelleman started the journal:nl:De West-Indische Gids (West Indian Guide) in 1919.
Bibliography (selection)
• Bijdragen tot de kennis der fauna van Midden-Sumatra - deel 1, 1887 (with others) • Daniël Veth's reizen in Angola, voorafgegaan door eene schets van zijn leven, 1887, (P.J. Veth and Joh. F. Snelleman) • Industrie des Cafres du Sud-Est de l'Afrique. Collection recueillie sur les lieux et notice ethnographique par H.P.N. Muller, Description des objets représentés par J.F. Snelleman, 1892 (with H.P.N. Muller) • Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indië, vol. 2 (1899) as editorial assistant, vol. 3 (1902) (joint editor with P.A. van der Lith, vol. 4 (1905) (sole editor) • Bijdragen tot de kennis der fauna van Midden-Sumatra - vol. 2, 1892 (with others) • Encyclopædie van Nederlandsch West-Indië, 1914-1917, editors H.D. Benjamins en Joh. F. Snelleman • Scheepvaart-musea en Rotterdamsche toestanden, 1916 • Het Ethnologisch Museum van Rotterdam, 1917
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Het Vaderland, 21 May 1938
- 2.Genealogical information Johannes François Snelleman
- 3.Veth, Pieter Johannes. De Nederlanders in Afrika. Brill. 1893.
- 4.Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch West-Indië - Lijst van medewerkers
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, 6 May 1915 (Dutch)
- Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant, 4 August 1915 (Dutch)
- Het Vaderland, 21 May 1938 (Dutch)
- Genealogical information Johannes François Snelleman
References
Citations
References
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Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
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