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Anthony John Stanhope Reid (19 June 1939 – 8 June 2025) was a New Zealand-born historian of
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. He is most well known for his two volume book, '' Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce'', developed during his time at the Research School of Pacific (and Asian) Studies,
Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...
, in
Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...
. His later work includes a return to Sumatra where he explored the historical basis for the separate identity of
Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...
; interests in nationalism, Chinese diaspora and economic history, and latterly the relation between geology and deep history.


Academic career

Reid was the son of John Stanhope Reid, a New Zealand diplomat who held postings in Indonesia, Japan and Canada in the 1950s and 1960s. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and History, and his Master of Arts in History from
Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington (), also known by its shorter names "VUW" or "Vic", is a public university, public research university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of New Zealand Parliament, Parliament, and w ...
. Reid's doctoral work at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
examined the contest for power in northern
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
, Indonesia, in the late 19th century, and he extended this study into a book ''The Blood of the People'' on the national and social revolutions in that region between 1945 and 1949. Reid taught Southeast Asian history at the
University of Malaya The Universiti Malaya (lit 'University of Malaya'; abbreviated UM) is a public university, public research university located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is the oldest Malaysian institution of higher education, and was the only university in ...
between 1965 and 1970, and the Australian National University from 1970 to 1999. Between 1999 and 2002, he was the founding director of the Southeast Asia Center,
University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
, and then the founding director of the Asia Research Institute (ARI) at the
National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...
(NUS) from 2002 to 2007. He retired from NUS in 2009. Thereafter, he was based in Canberra as a professor emeritus at the Australian National University.


Fiction

As a writer of fiction, Reid styled himself Tony Reid.


Death

Reid died on 8 June 2025 at the age of 85 in a hospital in Canberra.


Honours and awards

Reid was elected a Fellow of the
Australian Academy of the Humanities The Australian Academy of the Humanities was established by Royal Charter in 1969 to advance scholarship and public interest in the humanities in Australia. It operates as an independent not-for-profit organisation partly funded by the Australi ...
in 1987. He won the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in the category of academics in 2002. He was elected as a Corresponding Fellow at the prestigious British Academy on 17 July 2008.


List of major publications

*''The Contest for North Sumatra: Atjeh, the Netherlands and Britain, 1858–1898.'' Kuala Lumpur, OUP/UMP, 1969. Reissued by University of Malaya Press, 1974; New edition University of Malaya Press, 2017.
Indonesian translation as ''Asal Mula Konflik Aceh'', Jakarta, Yayasan Obor, 2007. *''The Indonesian National Revolution, 1945–1950.'' Hawthorn, Vic. Longmans Australia, 1974. Reprinted by Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1986.
Indonesian translation as ''Revolusi Nasional Indonesia''. Jakarta, Sinar Harapan, 1996. *''The Blood of the People: Revolution and the End of Traditional Rule in Northern Sumatra.'' Kuala Lumpur, OUP, 1979.
Indonesian translation as ''Perjuangan Rakyat: Revolusi dan Hancurnya Kerajaan di Sumatra.'' Jakarta, Sinar Harapan, 1986. *''Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680. Vol.I: The Lands below the Winds.'' New Haven, Yale University Press, 1988. :- Indonesian translation as ''Asia Tenggara dalam Kurun Niaga'' (Jakarta, Yayasan Obor, 1992). :- Southeast Asia edition Trasvin Publications ilkworm Books Chiang Mai, 1995, reprinted 1999. :- Japanese translation Hosei University Press, 1997. :- Thai translation Silkworm Books, Chiang Mai, 2004 :- Chinese translation by The Commercial Press, 2010. *''Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450–1680. Vol.II: Expansion and Crisis.'' New Haven, Yale University Press (1993). :- Indonesian translation as ''Dari Ekspansi hingga Krisis: Jaringan Perdagangan Global Asia Tenggara, 1450–1680'', (1999). :- Japanese translation as ''Daikokai Jidai no Tonan Ajia II'' (Tokyo, Hosei University Press,, 2001). :- Thai translation 2004; Chinese translation 2010 *''Charting the Shape of Early Modern Southeast Asia.'' Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 1999, 298pp.
Indonesian translation (2004). *''An Indonesian Frontier: Acehnese and other histories of Sumatra.'' Singapore: Singapore University Press, 2004; 439pp.- reprinted 2005. Indonesian translation 2011. * *''Imperial Alchemy: Nationalism and Political Identity in Southeast Asia''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009. *''To Nation by Revolution: Indonesia in the Twentieth Century''. Singapore: NUS Press, 2011. Indonesian translation, 2018. *''A History of Southeast Asia: Critical Crossroads''. Chichester, UK: Wiley/Blackwell, 2015. Chinese and Japanese translations, 2021. *as editor, ''Slavery, Bondage and Dependency in Southeast Asia''. St Lucia: Queensland University Press and New York, St Martin's Press, 1983. *as editor, ''Sojourners and Settlers: Histories of Southeast Asia and the Chinese'', Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2001. *as editor with Daniel Chirot, ''Essential Outsiders: Chinese and Jews in the Modern Transformation of Southeast Asia and Central Europe'', Seattle, University of Washington Press, 1997. Reid wrote a novel, ''Mataram'', about 17th-century Java, depicting the experiences of Tom Hodges, a fictional English East India Company officer, who sets off from Banten in 1608 with his Javanese paramour to reach the mysterious inland kingdom of Mataram.
Mataram: A Novel of Love, Faith and Power in Early Java
'. 2018. Leicestershire, UK: Monsoon Books. (paperback) (ebook)


References


Further reading

* ''Anthony Reid and the Study of the Southeast Asian Past'', ed. Geoff Wade and Li Tana (Singapore: ISEAS, 2012). * ''New Zealand’s Early Steps in Asia: A Biography of John S. Reid and Family'', by Anthony Reid (Canberra: 2020

* ''Helen Margaret Reid (née Gray): Negotiating Language and Culture'', by Anthony Reid and Helen Reid (Canberra 2021


External links


Australian National University: Profile – Anthony Reid
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Anthony 1939 births 2025 deaths Historians of Southeast Asia Academic staff of the Australian National University Academic staff of the National University of Singapore Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Fellows of the Royal Historical Society Academic staff of the University of Malaya University of California, Los Angeles faculty Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities Victoria University of Wellington alumni Alumni of the University of Cambridge New Zealand historians Australian historians