Willem Vogelsang
Encyclopedia
Willem Vogelsang specialises in the history and cultures of Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan. He has written numerous books and articles on the subject. In the 1970s he studied Indian and Iranian languages and cultures at the University of Leiden. He also studied at the University of Cambridge
and the University of Gent, Belgium. During his studies, he spent time in Iran
, Syria
and Afghanistan
, where he conducted archaeological fieldwork, notably in the Afghan province of Kandahar. During Christmas 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and Vogelsang, who by then had returned to The Netherlands, co-founded the Dutch Afghanistan Committee. He also established contacts with Dutch national newspapers and periodicals with the suggestion that he worked for them in Afghanistan. They agreed, and by the summer of 1982 Vogelsang managed to have himself smuggled into Afghanistan where he joined the Mujahedin and travelled across large parts of the country. During this period he regularly sent back radio interviews and written articles to The Netherlands.
Vogelsang obtained his PhD degree at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), in 1990. His thesis deals with the establishment and organisation of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, in the middle of the first millennium BC.
Until 2002, Vogelsang was the Executive Secretary at the Universiteit Leiden of the Research School for Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS). During those years, he travelled widely in the Middle East, most notably in Iran, where, together with his wife, Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, he conducted a survey of local clothing traditions. From 2002 until 2008 he was curator at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, where he was responsible for the Central and Southwest Asian collections. At the same time, after 9/11, he frequently visited Afghanistan, in various capacities. He was appointed, for example, as Project Coordinator for Cultural Affairs, CIMIC, for the Dutch armed forces, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He acts as advisor to the National Museum in Kabul. He is also an advisor of the TRC (Textile Research Centre), Leiden, and co-editor of the academic journal Khil'a,
In June 2008 Vogelsang was appointed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Regional and Cultural Advisor for the Dutch Embassy in Kabul, to be based in Uruzgan, South Afghanistan.
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and the University of Gent, Belgium. During his studies, he spent time in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, where he conducted archaeological fieldwork, notably in the Afghan province of Kandahar. During Christmas 1979 the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, and Vogelsang, who by then had returned to The Netherlands, co-founded the Dutch Afghanistan Committee. He also established contacts with Dutch national newspapers and periodicals with the suggestion that he worked for them in Afghanistan. They agreed, and by the summer of 1982 Vogelsang managed to have himself smuggled into Afghanistan where he joined the Mujahedin and travelled across large parts of the country. During this period he regularly sent back radio interviews and written articles to The Netherlands.
Vogelsang obtained his PhD degree at the University of Groningen (The Netherlands), in 1990. His thesis deals with the establishment and organisation of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, in the middle of the first millennium BC.
Until 2002, Vogelsang was the Executive Secretary at the Universiteit Leiden of the Research School for Asian, African, and Amerindian Studies (CNWS). During those years, he travelled widely in the Middle East, most notably in Iran, where, together with his wife, Dr. Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, he conducted a survey of local clothing traditions. From 2002 until 2008 he was curator at the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden, where he was responsible for the Central and Southwest Asian collections. At the same time, after 9/11, he frequently visited Afghanistan, in various capacities. He was appointed, for example, as Project Coordinator for Cultural Affairs, CIMIC, for the Dutch armed forces, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He acts as advisor to the National Museum in Kabul. He is also an advisor of the TRC (Textile Research Centre), Leiden, and co-editor of the academic journal Khil'a,
In June 2008 Vogelsang was appointed by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the Regional and Cultural Advisor for the Dutch Embassy in Kabul, to be based in Uruzgan, South Afghanistan.
Books
- The Iranian Achaemenid empire: investigations into the establishment and organisation of Persian Achaemenid domination on the Iranian Plateau and beyond, PhD thesis Groningen 1990, 331 p.
- The rise and organisation of the Achaemenid Empire: the eastern Iranian evidence, 1992, 344 p., Brill PublishersBrill PublishersBrill is an international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, the Netherlands. With offices in Leiden and Boston, Brill today publishes more than 134 journals and around 600 new books and reference works each year...
- Leiden, ISBN 90-04-09682-5 - Afghanistan: mensen, politiek, economie, cultuur, milieu, 2002, 74 p., Koninklijk Instituut voor de Tropen - Amsterdam, NOVIB - Den Haag, ISBN 90-6832-397-0. Revised edition 2010, 125 p.
- Afghanistan: een geschiedenis, 2007 (second, revised edition), 208 p., Bulaaq - Amsterdam, Van Halewyck - Leuven, ISBN 90-5460-073-X
- The Afghans, 2008 (second, revised edition), 382 p., Blackwell Publishers - Oxford (VK) en Malden (Massachusetts), ISBN 9780631198413
- Covering the Moon. An Introduction to Middle Eastern Face Veils, met Gillian Vogelsang-Eastwood, 2008, 247 p., PeetersPeeters-People with the surname Peeters:*Bart Peeters , Belgian musician and television presenter.*Benoît Peeters , French comic writer, novelist and critic*Bob Peeters , Belgian football striker...
- Leuven, ISBN 978-9042919907
External links
- Afghanistan-deskundige maakt overuren, NOS Nieuws Speciaal, 26 nov 2001
- Gasten VN in debat: 'Terug uit Afghanistan?', Vrij NederlandVrij NederlandVrij Nederland is a Dutch magazine which was established during the German occupation of the Netherlands in World War II as an underground newspaper but has since grown into a magazine. The weekly magazine is generally considered to be intellectually left-wing...
- Landenreeks: Afghanistan, Oxfam NovibOxfam NovibOxfam Novib is the Dutch affiliate of the international Oxfam organization. It is an association dedicated to establishing a fair world with no poverty in it. The organization is based in The Hague.Oxfam Novib was founded under the name Novib in 1956...
- Willem Vogelsang adviseur voor Afghanistan, afghanistan-nederland-vogelsang.blogspot.com
- Interview with Willem Vogelsang, Uruzgan.
- Een toekomstvisioen. Interview June 2010.