Christiaan Snouck (1857–1936)
Born 1857 CE, died 1936 CE.
Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkrɪstijaːn ˈsnuk ɦʏrˈɣrɔɲə]; 8 February 1857 – 26 June 1936) was a Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages and advisor on native affairs to the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies. Born in Oosterhout in 1857, he became a theology student at Leiden University in 1874. He received his doctorate at Leiden in 1880 with his dissertation 'Het Mekkaansche Feest' ("The Festivities of Mecca"). He became a professor at the Leiden School for Colonial Civil Servants in 1881. Snouck, who was fluent in Arabic, through mediation with the Ottoman governor in Jeddah, was examined by a delegation of scholars from Mecca in 1884 and, upon successfully completion of the examination, was allowed to commence a pilgrimage to the Holy Muslim city of Mecca in 1885. He was one of the first Western scholars of Oriental cultures to do so. A pioneering traveler, he was a rare Western presence in Mecca, but embraced the culture and religion of his hosts with passion in such that he successfully gave people the impression that he had converted to Islam.
Text from the Wikipedia article Christiaan_Snouck_Hurgronje, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.