Banjarmasin: public health and social structure in 1877, as described by a Hungarian medical doctor and geologist

Abstract

Theodor Posewitz, a Hungarian medical doctor and geologist (1850–1917) spent five years in the Dutch East Indies between 1880 and 1885, serving the colonial Dutch army. During his service assignments he spent all his free time with geological exploration, ultimately yielding the first geological map and monograph of Borneo. Being a citizen of Hungary, a country without any colonial aspirations, he was able to observe, investigate both nature and people of the region without relying to conventional prejudices of colonial officers. His description of Banjarmasin – published originally in Hungarian – is a prime example of objective, impartial, scientific description of land and people; a valuable source to the geography, public health and social structure of the town back in 1887. A list of scientific publications of Posewitz on the East Indies is added in the Appendix.