Willem Vogelsang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medemblik, Netherlands
International Institute for Asian Studies at the University of Leiden
Lieutenant Colonel
Willem Vogelsang | |
|---|---|
| Born | ca. 1956 Medemblik, Netherlands |
| Allegiance | Dutch Armed Forces International Institute for Asian Studies at the University of Leiden |
| Years of service | Retired in 2021 |
| Rank | Deputy director Lieutenant Colonel |
| Alma mater | University of Groningen (PhD) |
| Other work | University of Leiden |
Willem Vogelsang (born 1956 in Medemblik) was the deputy director of the International Institute for Asian Studies at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. He was also lieutenant colonel in the Dutch armed forces as Project Coordinator for Cultural Affairs, part of the Civil Military Cooperation (CIMIC). He retired per 1 January 2021.
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 Ghent University, 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.
In march of 1990 Vogelsang obtained his PhD degree at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands by defending his thesis titled "The Iranian Achaemenid Empire: Investigation Into the Establishment and Organization of Persian Achaemenid Domination of the Iranian Plateau and Beyond".
