Dr. Rémy Limpach is a Swiss-Dutch historian. He has a master’s degree in History from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and in 2015 obtained a doctorate (summa cum laude) from that same institution on Dutch mass violence during the Indonesian War of Independence 1945 -1949. The Dutch commercial edition of his doctoral thesis De brandende kampongs van Generaal Spoor (The burning villages of General Spoor) was published in September 2016.
Limpach has worked at the Netherlands Institute of Military History (NIMH) since 2014. For the past few years, he has been a senior researcher there. In this research programme, Limpach is the project leader of the subproject Asymmetric Warfare. He is specialised in Dutch colonial history in the 20th century and his main area of study is the Indonesian War of Independence and the violence that was applied during this conflict. He has published several Dutch and English publications on these topics, including: ‘Extreem Nederlands militair geweld in Indonesië 1945-1949’ [Extreme Dutch military violence in Indonesia 1945-1949], Militaire Spectator 185-10 (2016) 416-429; ‘Business as usual. Dutch mass violence in the Indonesian War of Independence 1945-1949’, in: Bart Luttikhuis and Dirk Moses ed., Colonial Counterinsurgency and Mass Violence, The Dutch Empire in Indonesia (Routledge, New York 2014) 64-90; Kekerasan ekstrem Belanda di Indonesia. Perang Kemerdekaan Indonesia 1945-1949 (Obor, Jakarta 2019); in collaboration with Petra Groen, Anita van Dissel, Mark Loderichs en Thijs Brocades Zaalberg, Krijgsgeweld en kolonie. Opkomst en ondergang van Nederland als koloniale mogendheid, 1816-2010 (Boom, Amsterdam 2021); and ‘’Ze vielen als gemaaid koren.’ Een beschouwing over de verliescijfers in Indonesië, 1945-1949’, Militaire Spectator 191-1 (2022) 32-49.