The Corts Foundation is transferring its activities to the new ‘Philippus Corts Fonds’, now part of 'The Learned Society / KITLV'. Leiden, June 17th 2021
The Board of the Corts Foundation has decided to conclude the activities as an autonomous foundation and to handover her assets and activities to the new “Philippus Corts Fonds” that will continue her activities as part of 'The Learned Society / KITLV' [ https://www.verenigingkitlv.nl/ ].
'The Learned Society / KITLV' (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies) is the owner of a unique and scientific collection including books, handwritings, images and also other unique objects regarding Southeast Asia and the Caribbean. The collection is managed by Leiden University Libraries / Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden (UBL) since July 2014.
The focus of the ‘Philippus Corts Fonds’ will be: “The preservation of original archival sources (in local languages and in Dutch) in Indonesia and the Netherlands regarding the shared history of these countries during 1602 till 1949, in particular the period of the ‘Dutch East Indian Company- VOC’ and the second World war in Asia”, and making these accessible.
Given the workload, the board of the Corts Foundation decided several years ago to discuss how to continue the foundation after realizing the main goals of its principles.
First of all: ‘digital preservation for the long term and making accessible (1.1 mio) VOC- manuscripts kept at the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia in Jakarta’, and secondly: ‘Research, translation and publication of Japanese archival sources about the Japanese invasion in the former Dutch- East Indies in 1942’, resulting in an academic trilogy of more than 1900 pages.
After that, it would be possible to use the remaining financial resources to set up a new fund focusing on shared cultural heritage in present Indonesia.
Recently, the Corts foundation published its third (and last) Senshi Sōsho volume, concluding successfully her Senshi Sōsho- project. Our ‘Leiden University Office Tokyo’ has been terminated and employee contracts ended. The secretary of the Corts Foundation (J.C. Snellen van Vollenhoven, Mozartweg 3 1323 AV Almere, The Netherlands, E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) has been charged for the formally required seven years to take care for all legal and administrative affairs, as for instance requesting the copyrights of the published Senshi Sōsho volumes.
In 2017 we formally concluded the ‘Data Archival System at ANRI’- project, with unique results. However, we were responsible until recently for maintenance and management of the information system and the project website ‘Sejarah-Nusantara’. These responsibilities have been transferred to ANRI.
After ascertaining that our main objectives (as stated in 2003) have indeed been realized, the
board of the Corts Foundation selected a partner which would be most suitable for continuing her activities in the future. Given her long tradition and experience in Asia the KITLV Society became the ideal partner.
The board of the Corts Foundation is pleased that today the general assembly of members of the 'The Learned Society / KITLV' approved the proposal to set up the ‘Philippus Corts Fonds’. In doing so we will be able to benefit of the extensive knowledge and experience of the 'The Learned Society / KITLV' in researching primary sources. Moreover, the work of the Corts Foundation will be preserved for the long time future.
