Ivan Kats papers

Collection

Call Number: MS 2048

Scope and Contents

The Ivan Kats papers are comprised of correspondence, drafts of Obor Foundation publications and translations, Obor Foundation financial information, reports from the Congress for Cultural Freedom, photographs from Kats' travels in Indonesia, and three Indonesian anti-communist posters. Correspondence with journalist, publisher, novelist, and key Obor Foundation contributor Muchtar Lubis, between 1969 and 1983, comprises a large portion of the collection, as does Kats' correspondence with many other Indonesian intellectuals and officials. Of particular interest are the drafts and correspondence related to an unpublished volume, Indonesia 1958-1965: The Cultural Scene which Kats organized between 1966 and 1967. Contributors include Indonesian intellectuals Andre Hardjana, Rosihan Anwar and S. Tasrif, with several drafts in both English and Indonesian.

Dates

1948 - 2006

Creator

Kats, Ivan

Language of Materials

The material is primarily in English and Indonesian.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by Ivan Kats was transferred to Yale University in 2016. These materials may be used for non-commercial purposes without seeking permission from Yale University as the copyright holder. For other uses of these materials, please contact mssa.assist@yale.edu. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Nicolas Kats, 2008. Transferred from the Southeast Asia Collection Curator, 2016.

Arrangement

The papers are arranged in six series: I. Unpublished work, Cultural Scene, 1961-1968. II. The Obor Foundation, 1950-2002. III. The Congress for Cultural Freedom, 1960-1990. IV. 30 September Movement, 1964-1966. V. Personal correspondence and writings, 1948-2006. VI. Photographs and posters, 1965-1966.

Extent

6.33 Linear Feet (13 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/mssa.ms.2048

Additional Description

Overview

Biographical / Historical

Born in the Netherlands, Ivan Kats spent the majority of his adult life in France and the United States, where he worked as a translator, editor, teacher, journalist and publisher. While living in France during the 1960s, Kats worked for the Congress for Cultural Freedom (CCF) – an anti-communist advocacy group founded in Paris – that established magazines, held conferences and art shows, and supported a number of poets, authors, and artists across 35 countries worldwide. Until his departure from the CCF in 1966, Kats was primarily engaged in a program for sending books and other publications to anti-communist, opposition leaders in Indonesia. After the 30 September Movement, and the ouster of the Indonesian President Sukarno in 1967, Kats left France and moved to New Haven, Connecticut, where he became affiliated with the Council on South East Asian Studies at Yale University. Between 1970 and his retirement in 1996, Kats functioned as director of Buku Obor (Yayasan Obor Indonesia), or the Obor Foundation, an organization he founded, dedicated to the publication and dissemination of books to book-poor countries. Initially focused on Indonesia, Obor spread to several other countries including Pakistan and Morocco, where they translated and published books in Urdu and Arabic.