Charles Ralph Boxer
C.R. Boxer (8 March 1904, Sandown, Isle of Wight — 27 Apr. 2000, St. Albans, GB), a Far East researcher and scholar specialized in the history of the Dutch and Portuguese empires, was the chief of British Military Intelligence services in Hong Kong during WWII.
His interest in Dutch and Portuguese maritime expeditions during the 15th and 16th centuries led him to the discovery of an unpublished chapter in the monumental chronicle “Decada da Asia”, from Portuguese author Diogo do Couto: the description of Angkor by Franciscan priest Antonio da Madalena in 1551, one of the oldest and most developed Western documents related to Angkor. His expertise was highly sought after by Angkor specialists such as Bernard-Philippe Groslier. He also unearthed numerous documents in the Dutch and Portuguese archives, and his 1969 study on “Portuguese and Spanish Projects for the Conquest of Southeast Asia, 1580 – 1600” [Journal of Asian History 3 (2), 1960: 118 – 136] remains a reference.
Charles Boxer at Angkor Thom, 20 May 1958. © Boxer Collection, cx. 7, via Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Charles Boxer at Angkor Thom, 20 May 1958. © Boxer Collection, cx. 7, via Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA.
Professor at King’s College, London, granted honorary doctorates in Lisbon, Utrecht and Taiwan, C.R. Boxer was banned from entering Portugal by dictator Salazar after publishing his Race Relations in Portuguese Colonial Empire 1415 – 1825 in 1963. Later on, however, he was granted the highest Portuguese distinction, the Grand Cross of the Order of Infante Dom Henrique.
Boxer has compiled the famous “Boxer Codex”, one of the richest collections of written sources on the Ancient Far East. He is also known for his affair with American journalist Hillary Hahn (1905−1997), whom he married in 1945. A prolific contributor to The New Yorker, Hillary Hahn published some 50 travel and history books, including Raffles of Singapore.
More About C. R. Boxer
- Teotónio R. de Souza, “Charles R. Boxer (8÷3÷1904−27÷4÷2000): historiador, mestre e amigo”, Caderno Internacional & Cultural, 5 March 2004: 14 – 15 [in pt-PG].
- Biographical note on Charles Boxer (1904−2000) by Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal, updated June 2021 [in pt-PG].