Archives

The ASCL library collection also comprises a small but steadily growing archival section. Archival materials may only be consulted in the reading room. Access to archival material will be at the discretion of the head of the library, taking into account statutory obligations such as the Dutch Data Protection Act, and the physical condition of the archival material being requested.
For more information see the rules and regulations for use of the ASCL archives.

Archival Collections:

• Franz von Benda-Beckmann
• Deborah Bryceson
• Robert Buijtenhuijs
• Stephen Ellis
• Philip A. Emanuel & Dixon Konkola
• Gerti Hesseling
• Sjoerd Hofstra
• Frederik David Holleman
• Johan Frederik Holleman
• Petrus Johannes Idenburg
• Ulrica Rijnsdorp 
• Georges Smets
• Albert Trouwborst
• Frans J. Verstraelen & Gerdien Gilhuis
• Jan Jacob de Wolf

• National Constitutional Conference Zambia (NCC)
• The Nigerian-Biafran War : an archival collection of Biafran expatriate organizations in Germany
• Opelana Lda

Archival Collection Franz von Benda-Beckmann

Franz von Benda-Beckmann (1941-2013) was a legal anthropologist who, during his career, held positions at Zurich, Leiden, Wageningen and Halle Universities. He wrote and co-edited several books on issues of property rights, social (in)security, and legal pluralism in developing countries and on legal anthropological theory.
For a list of publications written by Franz von Benda-Beckmann see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the Benda-Beckmann collection (pdf file).
Keywords: Malawi; legal pluralism; legal system; customary law; courts; personal archives (form)

[Malawi archive] / Franz von Benda-Beckmann. - [S.l.] : author, ca. 1967 Archival material from Professor Franz von Benda-Beckmann (1941-2013), notably field notes written and publications collected during his research on legal pluralism in Malawi in 1967. Franz von Benda-Beckmann obtained his PhD in law with his dissertation 'Rechtspluralismus in Malawi: Geschichtliche Entwicklung und heutige Problematik' (Legal Pluralism in Malawi: Historical development and contemporary problems) at the University of Kiel in 1970 (see call number AFRIKA 6738). In 1981, he was appointed professor for law and rural development in developing countries at Wageningen University. The archive contains handwritten notes in English and German about the Malawian legal systems and legislation (court decisions, notes of his conversations with Local Court Chairmen). Furthermore, the archive includes copies of National Assembly Debates (Hansard) for the Parliament of Malawi (1967,1969), an incomplete edition of the Laws of Nyasaland in Force on the 1st Day of January, 1957, ordinances of the Malawian Government (1964-1969) and annual reports of the Ministry of Justice. [ASC Leiden Abstract]

Archival Collection Deborah Bryceson

Deborah Fahy Bryceson is an Honorary Fellow at the Centre of African Studies, University of Edinburgh & Professorial Research Associate at the Nordic Africa Institute, University of Uppsala, specialized in labour studies, geography & urban/rural sociology. 
For a list of publications written by Deborah Fahy Bryceson see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the Deborah Bryceson collection (pdf file).
Keywords: Tanzania; agriculture; agricultural production; crop yields; agricultural marketing; personal archives (form)

[Deborah Bryceson food insecurity and the social division of labour/food marketing documents (1979-1987)] / Deborah Bryceson. [ca. 1979-1987]
The collection pertains mostly to Tanzanian agriculture in the period 1979-1987. Reports commissioned by government, by the Early Warning Systems and Crop Monitoring Project (a Dutch trust funded mission) and a large number of tables and graphs detailing the Tanzanian agricultural climate as well as import/export and production of certain cereal crops.
 

Archival Collection Robert Buijtenhuijs

Robert Buijtenhuijs (1936-2004) was a researcher at the African Studies Centre Leiden for almost thirty years. As a scholar, Rob Buijtenhuijs was interested in rebel movements in Africa, especially those in Kenya and Chad.
For a list of publications written by Robert Buijtenhuijs see the ASCL catalogue.
Keywords: African studies; Chad; Kenya; peasant rebellions; personal archives (form); political history; politicians; rebellions; social scientists

[Tchad] / Robert Buijtenhuijs. - [S.l.] : author, 1977
Part of the archives of the political anthropologist Robert Buijtenhuijs (1936-2004), former researcher at the African Studies Centre in Leiden (Pays-Bas). The 33 handwritten notebooks (numbered 'Chad 1', 'Chad 2', etc.) are composed of abstracts from scientific works and journal articles mostly regarding Chad. The abstracts are provided with comments and remarks and interspersed with personal ideas by Buijtenhuijs. The notebooks were written between 1977 and 1986. [Abstract ASC Leiden]

[Peasant wars] / Robert Buijtenhuijs. - [S.l.] : author, 1974-1991
Part of the archives of the political anthropologist Robert Buijtenhuijs (1936-2004), former researcher at the African Studies Centre in Leiden (Pays-Bas). The thirty-two handwritten notebooks (numbered 'Peasant wars 1', 'Peasant wars 2', etc.) are composed of abstracts from scientific works and journal articles on this subject, mostly regarding African countries. The abstracts are provided with comments and remarks and interspersed with personal ideas by Buijtenhuijs. The notebooks were written between 1974 and 1991. [Abstract ASC Leiden]

Archival Collection Stephen Ellis

Stephen Ellis (1953-2015) was a British historian of Africa and a former director of the African Studies Centre Leiden. Educated at the University of Oxford, Ellis had worked as a teacher in Cameroon and Madagascar, after which he became a researcher at Amnesty International. Between 1986 and 1991 Ellis was the editor of Africa Confidential, a specialist newspaper based in London. In 1991 he became the director of the African Studies Center Leiden. After three years he resigned from his post and took up a number of other activities: he worked for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa (1997-1998), was acting as Chair of the South Africa-Netherlands Programme on Alternatives in Development (SANPAD) (1995-2001), director of the Africa Programme of the International Crisis Group (2003-2004), and a scientific advisor to the West African Commission on Drugs (2012-2014). In 2008 he was appointed Desmond Tutu professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at VU University Amsterdam. Ellis was a prolific author and a leading commentator on Africa. His partner, Gerrie ter Haar, has very kindly donated his research archive to the African Studies Centre. The Stephen Ellis archive is quite large (>10 mrts). The scope is very diverse, comprising many subjects and African countries. Large parts of the archive cover South Africa and Madagascar.
This archive is currently being catalogued and will become accessible in the near future.
For an overview of his published work, please see the Stephen Ellis Bibliography.

Archival Collection Gerti Hesseling

Gerti Hesseling (1946-2009) was a legal anthropologist at the African Studies Centre Leiden for nearly thirty years. As a scholar, Gerti Hesseling combined an interest in macro-level research on constitutional affairs, with issues such as land rights and access to land on a micro level. Her research covered all of the Sahel, but Senegal held a special place in her heart.
For a list of publications written by Gerti Hesseling see the ASCL catalogue.
Keywords: African studies; Cameroon; Gambia; land law; Mali; Mozambique; Niger; personal archives (form); Senegal; social scientists; South Africa; travel; Western Sahara

[Wetenschappelijke publicaties 1996-2008] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1996-2008
Contains 29 scientific publications, mostly in French, English or Dutch, partially co-written.

[Voordrachten 1995-2008] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1995-2008
Includes lectures, 1995-2008, mostly in French, English or Dutch.

[Reisverslagen & niet nader gepubliceerd materiaal] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1982-2007
Contains travel reports and research proposals, 1982-2007, mostly in French, English or Dutch.

[Country study Senegal : Ziguinchor] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1981-2008
Includes e-mails and various reports, 1981-2008, mostly in French, English or Dutch.

[Voordrachten 1981-1995] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1981-1995
Includes lectures, 1981-1995, mostly in French, English or Dutch.

[Reviews - Populair wetenschappelijke publicaties - Besprekingen van eigen publicaties - Interviews] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1975-2008
Contains reviews and publications for  a wider audience, mostly in French, English or Dutch.

[Wetenschappelijke publicaties 1975-1995] / Gerti Hesseling. - [S.l. s.n.], 1975-1995
Contains 32 scientific publications, mostly in French, English or Dutch, partially co-written.

[Archivalia on constitutional law, land law and land tenure in West Africa] / Gerti Hesseling. - [Leiden] : [Gerti Hesseling], [1960-1999].
Contains 43 boxes with research data on land law, land tenure and land reforms in Senegal, as well as (newspaper) articles and clippings on Senegal, its political development, parties and press; student theses, legal texts (mainly land law and constitutional law) and miscellanea, mostly in French, English or Dutch.

Archival Collection Sjoerd Hofstra

Sjoerd Hofstra (1898-1983) was a Dutch anthropologist who was appointed Professor of African Anthropology at the University of Leiden in 1947. Between 1934 and 1936 Hofstra did research among the Mende in Sierra Leone. Though Hofstra never published a book on the Mende during his life, he wrote a few scholarly journal articles on the subject, and his letters home were later crystallized into the book Among the Mende in Sierra Leone.
Keywords: interviews (form); linguistics; Mende; personal archives (form); Sierra Leone; social scientists; traditional society
See also the extended archival description of the Hofstra collection (pdf file).
 

Among the Mende in Sierra Leone : the letters from Sjoerd Hofstra (1934-36) / Hofstra, Sjoerd. - Leiden : Afrika-Studiecentrum, 2014

[Mende archief] / Sjoerd Hofstra. - [S.l.] : Sjoerd Hofstra, 1934-1936
The archive contains handwritten notes, mostly in English, about a variety of subjects, amongst which the social organization of the Mende, law system, hunting customs, healing rites, burial customs, Mende proverbs and grammar. It also contains interviews with local people. In addition, there is some statistical demographic material, a series of the Sierra Leone Royal Gazette and a few (school) books in Mende language

[Photo collection] / Sjoerd Hofstra. - [S.l.] : Sjoerd Hofstra, 1934-1936
Glass plate positives and photographs made by Sjoerd Hofstra in Sierra Leone in the 1930s have been digitalized by the ASCL Library and published on Wikimedia Commons.

Archival Collection Frederik David Holleman

Frederik 'Frits' David Holleman (11 May 1887 – 22 January 1958) was a Dutch and South African academic, ethnologist, and jurist, best known for his research into the indigenous legal systems of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and South Africa.
For a list of publications written by Frits Holleman see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the Frits Holleman collection (pdf file).
Keywords: South Africa; customary law; land law; personal archives (form)

[Personal archive] / Frederik David Holleman. - [S.l.] : author, ca. 1939-57. Collection of correspondence, manuscripts, notes, publications, and miscellanea, by F.D. Holleman predominantly on the topic of South African Customary Law (‘Bantu Law’), mostly from his tenure as Professor at Stellenbosch University in South Africa during the period 1939-1957.

Archival Collection Johan Frederik Holleman

Johan 'Hans' Frederik Holleman (18 December 1915 – 28 August 2001) was a Dutch and South African professor, ethnologist, legal scholar, best known for his research into the indigenous legal systems of Southern Africa. During his life he published twenty books, including five works of fiction. He also published works using the pseudonyms 'Jacobus van der Blaeswindt' and 'Holmer Johanssen'.
For a list of publications written by Hans Holleman see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the Hans Holleman collection (pdf file).
Tip: there is also an archival collection of Hans Holleman at the university library.
Keywords: South Africa; legal system ; customary law; personal archives (form)

[Personal archive] / Johann Frederik Holleman. - [S.l.] : author, ca. 1945-63. Extensive collection of correspondence, drafts, manuscripts, maps, newspaper clippings, notes, and miscellanea collected by J.F. Holleman, predominantly from his work in South Africa from 1945 to 1963, Northern and Southern Rhodesia from 1945 to 1963 and in 1975, and the Netherlands from 1963 to 1993.

Archival Collection Petrus Johannes Idenburg

Petrus Johannes Idenburg (1898 – 1989) was a jurist specialized in constitutional law, lector at Leiden University and researcher of Africa. In 1947 he founded the Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden, which he led as a director from 1947 to 1963.
For a list of publications written by P.J. Idenburg see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the P.J. Idenburg collection (pdf file).
Keywords: South Africa; constitutional law; African studies; academics ; personal archives (form)

[Papers of Petrus Johannes Idenburg, Director of the Afrika-Studiecentrum, Leiden] / P.J. Idenburg. - [Leiden] : [P.J. Idenburg], 1937-1961. Collection of correspondence, article manuscripts and reprints, lecture notes, travel reports and miscellanea collected by P.J. Idenburg, 1937-1961, in Dutch, English, French, German and Afrikaans.
 

Archival Collection Ulrica Rijnsdorp

Ulrica ‘Juul’ Rijnsdorp (1929-2004) was a researcher at the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL). She studied law and developed a keen interest in African law, especially in the marriage- and divorce-legislation of the Yoruba. Supported by the African Studies Centre, and funded by the Dutch Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO), Rijnsdorp was one of four researchers taking part in a study of family law in Sierra Leone (1971-1973). The core theme of the study was the friction caused by the legal pluralism in rapidly changing African societies. Following her return to the Netherlands, Rijnsdorp remained a member of the research staff of the ASCL until the end of 1982.
For a list of publications written by Ulrica Rijnsdorp see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the Ulrica Rijnsdorp collection (pdf file).
Keywords: Sierra Leone; family law; legal pluralism; personal archives (form)

[Ulrica ‘Juul’ Rijnsdorp (1929-2004): legal pluralism and family law in Sierra Leone (1971-1973)] / Ulrica Rijnsdorp].  - [Leiden] : [Ulrica Rijnsdorp], [1971-1973]
The collection is mainly comprised of material collected during a period of fieldwork which revolved around the theme of legal pluralism in a changing Sierra Leonean society. Included in the collection are a large number of case-files (mainly court-cases involving family law), reports of interviews with legal personnel, and political authorities in both rural and urban regions in Sierra Leone, as well as correspondence anent the research project, Rijnsdorp’s dissertation, and correspondence with Rijnsdorp’s assistants. The collection is further enriched by Rijnsdorp’s maps, photographs and the labelled tape-reels and cassette-tapes which were made during interviews, court cases and speeches. In addition to Rijnsdorp’s own material, a number of folders of the Dutch civil administrator (Sumatra) and legal scholar Johannes Keuning (1911-1965) are present in the archive. Keuning was interested in customary law in Indonesia and Africa and briefly conducted research on the topic in Western Nigeria in 1961.

Archival Collection Georges Smets

Georges Smets (1881 - 1961) was a Belgian lawyer, historian, sociologist and ethnologist. Initially trained as a historian and lawyer, he was Professor and Rector of the Free University of Brussels (1929-1932) and Director of the Solvay Institute of Sociology (1934-?).
For a list of publications written by Georges Smets see Mélanges Georges Smets / Georges Smets, Bruxelles : Les éditions de la librairie encyclopédique, 1952, p. 25-42.
See also the extended archival description of the Georges Smets collection (pdf file).
Keywords: Ruanda-Urundi; traditional rulers; traditional polities; personal archives (form)

[Georges Smets : research in Rwanda-Burundi, 1935] / Georges Smets. - [Leiden] : [Georges Smets], [1935]
The collection contains archival material which was collected during Georges Smets’ ethnological fieldwork in Rwanda-Burundi in 1935. The contents of its nine folders include administrative reports and dossiers of the Belgian colonial government concerning chiefdoms and individual chiefs, as well as Smets’ notes on ethnological topics, and descriptions of interviews with both African informants and Europeans. Additionally, the collections contains correspondence to Smets and three photographs of King (mwami) Mutara III Rudahigwa of Rwanda, presumably with Queen Nyiramakomali, before the royal palace in Mwanza.

Archival Collection Albert Trouwborst

Albert A. Trouwborst (1928-2007) was Professor of Social Anthropology at the Catholic University (nowadays Radbod University) of Nijmegen, the Netherlands. He studied Indology at Leiden University, where he took his Ph.D. in 1956. He conducted fieldwork in Burundi (East Africa) and among the Mataway Creoles of Surinam. For more extensive biographical information, as well as a bibliography, please refer to the Catholic Documentation Centre's archival guide written by René van der Haar (in Dutch). 
For a list of publications written by Albert Trouwborst see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the Albert Trouwborst collection (pdf file).
Keywords: Burundi; social life; material culture; personal archives (form)

[Albert Trouwborst : Rwanda-Burundi] / Albert Trouwborst.  - [Leiden] : [Albert Trouwborst], [1958-1959]
The collection contains sources from Albert Trouwborst’s stay in Burundi in 1958 and 1959. These include two photographs, written notes on aspects of Barundi life, informative cards on Barundi material culture, a description of his photo-material, a mailing list with ethnological objects to be sent to the Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde in Leiden, as well as typed texts concerning Barundi socio-political organisation and rites.
 

Archival Collection Frans J. Verstraelen & Gerdien Gilhuis

Frans J. Verstraelen (1927-) was Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe. Previously he was Associate Director and Senior Researcher in the Interuniversity Institute for Missiological and Ecumenical Research at Leiden University, 1969-1989.  For more extensive autobiographical information, please refer to Museum in eigen huis and Ghana; West-Afrika: Leven en werken temidden van culturen, coups en concilium (in Dutch).

For a list of publications written by Frans J. Verstraelen see the ASCL catalogue.
See also the extended archival description of the  Frans J. Verstraelen collection (pdf file).
See also a list of publications by Gerdien Gilhuis in the ASCL catalogue.
Keywords: Ghana; Zambia; religious studies; personal archives (form)

[Frans J. Verstraelen (and Gerdien Verstraelen-Gilhuis): African Missiology)]. - [Leiden] : [Frans J. Verstraelen], [1965-1990s]
The collection contains research notes anent Verstraelen’s studies in Ghana (1965-1969) and Zambia (1972-1972), correspondence with African academic and clerical institutions, publications by Frans Verstraelen, research reports, conference reports, notes on African travels in journal form, newspaper clippings and magazines from miscellaneous African countries. The collection includes a photo-album of Gerdien Verstraelen-Gilhuis, as well as some of her correspondence and publications.