The Henk Sneevliet Archive

Since the 1960s the IISH has collected archives, books, brochures and periodicals concerning Indonesia concentrating on the social, economic and political history.
To the history of Indonesia there are various relevant archives and collections at the Institute. One of the most important original sources to both Indonesian and Chinese history held at the Institute is the archive of the Dutch international revolutionary Henk Sneevliet. The IISH obtained possession of the Sneevliet papers during the 1950s and 1960s. They formed the basis of source publications on socialism in Indonesia and communism in China. Sneevliet was actively involved in the founding in 1914 of the forerunner of the Partai Komunis Indonesia (PKI) the Indies Social Democratic Association (ISDV).
So, a considerable part of the archive, correspondence and notes, concerns Sneevliet's political and trade union activities in the Dutch East Indies. A sizeable section covers his time with the Comintern and his work in China (1920-1924). In China Sneevliet was the official Comintern representative. He had influence on the early development of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and on the founding of the Chinese communist labour movement. The Chinese section of the Sneevliet archive consists of notes and correspondance with such figures as Chiang Kai-shek, Liao Zhongkai and Sun Yat-sen.