Simon de Graaff

Simon de Graaff (born Aug. 24, 1861, Lisse, Neth.—died Oct. 2, 1948, Oegstgeest) was a Dutch statesman who, as colonial minister (1919–25), reorganized the administration of the Dutch East Indies and had the Indies’ constitution revised so conservatively that it aroused nationalist fervour there.

De Graaff began his career in the Dutch East Indies’ Ministry of the Interior and by 1913 was a member of the Council of the Indies. After de Graaff became colonial minister, he revived an old plan of his to create provinces and restructure the administrative hierarchy. De Graaff also enacted the paternalistic Village Regulation, which made the village the instrument of Indonesian welfare, providing schools, banks, advice, and other services. It served only to turn villagers, who were more concerned with autonomy, against the Dutch.