Benjamin Frederik Matthes

Reverend
Benjamin Frederik Matthes
J.P. Berghaus: Dutch missionary and linguist Benjamin Frederik Matthes (1818–1908), 1848. Lithography.
Born
Benjamin Frederik Matthes

(1818-01-16)16 January 1818
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died9 October 1908(1908-10-09) (aged 90)
Nijmegen, Netherlands
Occupationsprotestant missionary, linguist, translator, author
Spouse(s)
  • Everharda Catharina Engelenburg (Deventer, 1821 – Maros, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, 9 March 1855)
Children2
Writing career
Notable workBoeginesche chrestomathie (1872, includes a section from the Buginese epic La Galigo)
Notable awardsHonorary doctorate in linguistics and literature of the Malay Archipelago, Leiden University 1881
Page in Buginese script, with pencil additions by Benjamin Matthes in preparation of his Boegineesch-Hollandsch Woordenboek (Buginese-Dutch dictionary, 1874).
Buginese characters for consonants.
Buginese cypher script characters (odd rows) with their equivalents in standard Buginese Lontara script (even rows) by B. F. Matthes in his bookEenige proeven van Boegineesche en Makassaarsche Poëzie (Some samples of Buginese and Maskassarese poetry), 1883.
1936 Reconstruction of the Goa (Gowa) royal palace. Museum Balla Lompoa, Sungguminasa near Makassar, 2014.

Benjamin Frederik Matthes (16 January 1818 – 9 October 1908) was a Dutch Protestant missionary in Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), linguist, especially of Buginese, author and Bible translator.

Biography

Matthes was born the son of a Lutheran clergyman, and studied theology and literature at Leiden (1835–1838) and theology (1836–1841) at the Luthersch Seminarium at Amsterdam, as well as Semitic languages at Leiden and Heidelberg (1841–1844). Not being an outgoing preacher, Matthes preferred to study and teach. In the years 1844–1848 he worked as second lecturer and vice director of the Zendelingshuis (missionary college) of the Nederlands Zendelinggenootschap (NZG, Protestant Netherlands Missionary Society) at Rotterdam. With Leiden professor Theodor Juynboll he curated a 1852 edition of a history of Egypt in Arabic written by Abū al-Maḥāsin Yūsuf ibn Taghrī-Birdī. At the Zendelingshuis he taught Malay language and published a Malay linguistic textbook.

First period at South Sulawesi, 1848–1858

In 1848 the Dutch Bible Society appointed him as a linguist to study the Makassarese and Buginese languages of South-West Sulawesi, and create grammar text books with a view to later publish Bible translations for both languages. After his marriage in July 1848 he duly arrived at his posting in Makassar in October 1848. There he could learn Makassarese from native speakers, however Buginese could only be acquired in the hinterland.

So in 1852, Matthes toured Bugis regions such as Maros, Pangkajene, and Tanete where he met Colliq Pujie (1812–1876). One of her titles was Arung Pancana, as she was a daughter of La Rumpang Megga, ruler of the Kingdom of Tanette (reigned 1840–1855) and mother of the later Queen of Tanette Siti Aisyah We Tenriolle (reigned 1855–1910). Colliq Pujie was a widow of about 40 years old and a truly educated woman, who usually composed all the official letters for her father, and who not only had a thorough understanding of the courtly language of Bone, but did not seem to be unfamiliar even with the ancient La-Galigo language, which has now fallen completely into disuse. Matthes had been tasked to learn the Buginese language, which he found more difficult to master than the Makassarese. This led to a collaboration with Colliq Pujié. Matthes collected manuscripts of the epic I La Galigo in South Sulawesi that Colliq Pujié transliterated, edited and copied into 12 volumes of the manuscript I La Galigo.

On Matthes' trip in July–August 1857 searching for the purest form of the Buginese language, he was refused entry into the Kingdom of Bone.

First leave to the Netherlands, 1858–1861

In February 1858 he departed from Makassar for his first leave to Holland, where he arranged the printing of several of his manuscripts on the Makassarese language: a grammar, a dictionary and a study anthology (chrestomathy). In 1859, e.g., his Makassarese dictionary was published, which remained current until Cense's new dictionary of 1979.

Second period at South Sulawesi, 1861–1870

In 1861 he returned to Makassar, and found that the Dutch Governor now was opposed the Christian evangelizing in South Sulawesi. Matthes decided to continue his study of the Bugi language but also to restrict his upcoming Bugi Bible translation to the Gospel of Matthew. After the Second Bone War by the Dutch colonial army in 1860 a research visit to the Bone Kingdom had become feasible, so that Matthes could find his first manuscript in cipher writing. Furthermore, he continued collecting parts of larger manuscripts, especially those of the extensive La Galigo cycle. The learned princess Colliq Pujié of Tanette was of great help with her deep expertise of the old Bugi language and copied and edited available parts of La Galigo, to the tune of some 2848 folio pages, now curated by Leiden University Library.

Second leave to the Netherlands, 1870–1875

During this leave to the Netherlands Matthes curated the publication of several of his linguistic works, e.g., the second and third part of his Boegineesche Chrestomathie (Buginese Chrestomathy), Woordenboek (Dictionary, 1200 pages in two columns) and ditto Spraakkunst (Grammar) in 1875. He delivered a well-received lecture on the Sulawesi female and male bissu priests at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, which was published with extensive illustrations.

Teacher's college at Makassar, 1875–1879

The Dutch government requested Matthes to set up a training college for indigenous teachers at Makassar (Dutch: Kweekschool voor inlandsche onderwijzers), which he subsequently successfully led as a director up to 1879. The college complex was established at Justitielaan (now Jalan Amanagappa) in Makassar. Matthes wrote several textbooks for this college.

Return to the Netherlands

Early 1880 Matthes returned to Holland, and continued his translations of the Bible into Makassarese and Buginese, which were completed in December 1900. He retired to Nijmegen where he died on 9 October 1908 at the age of 90. After his decease, his Makassarese and Buginese manuscripts were loaned to Leiden University Library.

Quotation

Matthes on bissus and their special role in nineteenth-century Bugi Sulawesi society:

(Matthes' Dutch text)
Wat nu de werkzaamheden der bîssoe's betreft, zoo ziet men ze aan de hoven allerlei huiselijke bezigheden verrigten, zich bijvoorbeeld met het bereiden der spijzen en de bediening bemoeijen. Doch dit is natuurlijk meer bij wijze van tijdverdrijf. De taak der bîssoe's begint dan eigenlijk, wanneer er eenig feest is. Zoo onder anderen bij gelegenheid van geboorte, of als er een prinsje of prinsesje voor het eerst eet, of den grond betreedt. Zoo ook bij besnijdenis en tandenslijpen, bij trouwen, enz.
Doch deze en meer huiselijke feesten zijn bij den Inlander alle tevens van godsdienstigen aard. En de wijl de Boeginezen éénparig het Mohammedanisme omhelsd hebben, zijn de voorvaderlijke geheel heidensche begrippen der bîssoe's eigenlijk met hun geloof in strijd. De bîssoe's vervullen daarbij dan ook gewoonlijk geen' andere rol, dan die van te dansen en te zingen, tenzij zij, en dit is zeker ook nog al dikwerf het geval, als sânro's, d.i. dokters of dokteressen, optreden.

(Translation)
Now as for the duties of the bissus, they are seen carrying out all sorts of domestic chores at the courts, for example preparing dishes and serving meals. However, this is of course more like a pastime. The real job of a bissu commences when there is some celebration. Including for example, on the occasion of a birth, or when a princeling or little princess take their first bite or step. Likewise at circumcision, tooth sharpening and marriage, and so forth.
But these and other indigenous domestic indigenous celebrations are all also of a religious nature. And while the Buginese unanimously have embraced Mohammedanism, the ancestral wholly pagan concepts of the bissus are in fact at odds with their faith. The bissus mostly play no other role than that of dancers and singers, unless they act as sânros, i.e., male or female (indigenous) doctors, which surely is quite often the case.

Works

Matthes' publications include:

See also

Secondary literature

References

  1. ↑ van den Brink 1943, p. 159.
  2. ↑ "Honorary doctorates and prizes". universiteitleiden.nl. Archived from the original on 2026-04-15.
  3. 1 2 Jonker 1909.
  4. ↑ van den Brink 1943.
  5. ↑ Jonker 1909, p. 255.
  6. ↑ van den Brink 1943, p. 20.
  7. ↑ Rahman, Nurhayati (2008). Retna Kencana Colliq Pujie Arung Pancana Toa, 1812-1876 : intelektual penggerak zaman [Retna Kencana Colliq Pujie Arung Pancana Toa, 1812–1876: an influential intellectual / intellectual driving force of the age / intellectual trailblazer] (in Indonesian). Makassar: La Galigo Press. ISBN 9789799911520. OCLC 778234506. XIII, 191 p. : ill., schema., tab. ; 21 cm.
  8. ↑ Swellengrebel 1974, p. 153.
  9. ↑ van den Brink 1943, p. 172.
  10. ↑ Swellengrebel 1974, p. 150.
  11. ↑ Cense, A. A.; Abdoerrahim; Noorduyn, J. (1979). Makassaars-Nederlands woordenboek [Makassarese-Dutch dictionary]. Makassar, 's Gravenhage: Martinus Nijhoff on behalf of Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde (Netherlands). ISBN 9789024723201. OCLC 6983189. 989 pages.
  12. ↑ van den Brink 1943, p. 77.
  13. ↑ "Memory of the World. La Galigo". unesco.org. UNESCO. 2011. Archived from the original on 2024-06-30. Retrieved 2026-03-26.
  14. 1 2 Matthes, B.F. (1872). Over de bissoe's of heidensche priesters en priesteressen der Boeginezen, p. 3.
  15. ↑ Kern 1910, p. 73.
  16. ↑ van den Brink 1943, p. 155.
  17. ↑ At Leiden University Library, these manuscript are catalogued as NBG-Boeg 1-216 in the collection of the Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap (Dutch Bible Society). Scalliet, Marie-Odette (2009). "Collection guides. Collection of the Nederlands Bijbelgenootschap. Collection Identifier: ubl132". Leiden University Libraries. Retrieved 2026-09-10.