Récits d'un médecin militaire tchèque à Aceh et en pays batak (1878-1883)

Abstract

Ludvik Kalus, Université Paris IV - Sorbonne Récits d'un médecin tchèque à Aceh et en pays batak (1878-1883) In the years 1878-1883, during the Aceh War, the Dutch Colonial Army was composed of elements belonging to a great number of nations. Among them was a Czech doctor of medicine, Pavel Durdik, who had himself enlisted as an army medical officer. A man of culture and a writer, Pavel Durdik took advantage of his stay in Aceh to collect historical, ethnological and anthropological observations that he subsequently recorded in four books written in the Czech language. Meanwhile, he also used to write to different personalities in Prague and his letters, also published in Czech, are true war reports written on the "battlefield". The works of Pavel Durdik provide a realistic, independent and touching testimony, of a high literary level, of the time of the Aceh War. Unfortunately, they remain unknown outside the Czech-speaking region. This article endeavours to present and to commemorate the traveller- doctor, his life and, of course, his books.