Paulus Najoan

(b. 1860, Indonesia)

Paulus Najoan learned to paint and photograph in Jakarta, and later at the Hoofdenschool (Principal School) in Makassar, Celebes. From October 10, 1885, he worked as a drawing teacher at the Amboina Teachers’ Training College in Ambon. In his time, he was primarily known as a landscape painter. In 1884, he won three silver medals for chalk drawings in Jakarta. In 1892, he created two landscape paintings for the Dutch resident on Ambon, Gerrit Willem Wolter Carel Baron van Hoevell, resident from 1891 to 1895. Najoan was a Christian and was granted equal status with European residents in 1892. He married Johanna Wilhelmina Abrahamse in Ambon.