Ian Buruma (born 28 December 1951) is a Dutch writer and editor who lives and works in the
United States. In 2017, he became editor of The New York Review of Books, but left the position in September 2018.
Much of his writing has focused on the
culture of Asia, particularly that of China and 20th-century
Japan. He was the Paul W. Williams Professor of
Human Rights and Journalism at
Bard College from 2003 to 2017.[1]
Early life and education
Buruma was born and raised in
The Hague, Netherlands. His father, Sytze Leonard "Leo" Buruma, was a Dutch lawyer and the son of a Mennonite minister, and his mother, Gwendolyn Margaret "Wendy" Schlesinger, a Briton of German-Jewish descent.[2][3][4] He went to study at
Leiden University in 1971, and obtained a
Candidate degree in
Chinese literature and History in 1975. He subsequently pursued
postgraduate studies in Japanese cinema from 1975 to 1977 at the College of Art (Nichidai Geijutsu Gakko) of the
Nihon University (
Tokyo, Japan).
From 2003 to 2017, Buruma was Luce Professor of Democracy, Human Rights and Journalism at
Bard College, New York. In 2017, he became editor of The New York Review of Books, succeeding founding editor
Robert B. Silvers.[7][8]
In September 2018, Buruma left the NYRB position in the wake of a dispute about his decision to publish an essay by the Canadian talk show host
Jian Ghomeshi. Ghomeshi was
acquitted in 2016 of one count of choking and four counts of sexual assault, after over 20 women complained either to the police or in the media. The publication of the essay was controversial, in part, because Ghomeshi wrote that the allegations against him were "inaccurate".[10] In an interview with Slate magazine, Buruma defended his decision to publish, and denied that the article was misleading because it had failed to mention that Ghomeshi had been required to issue an apology to one of the victims as part of the terms of a case against him. He also denied that the title, "Reflections from a Hashtag", was dismissive of the #MeToo movement; stated that the movement has resulted in "undesirable consequences"; and said: "I'm no judge of the rights and wrongs of every allegation. ... The exact nature of [Ghomeshi's] behavior – how much consent was involved – I have no idea, nor is it really my concern."[11]
In response to outrage over his defense of the article,[12][13][14] The Review later stated that it had departed from its "usual editorial practices", as the essay "was shown to only one male editor during the editing process", and that Buruma's statement to Slate about the staff of the Review "did not accurately represent their views".[15] More than 100 contributors to the Review, including
Joyce Carol Oates and
Ian McEwan, signed a letter of protest to express fears that Buruma's exit threatened intellectual culture and "the free exploration of ideas".[16][17][18][19][20]
In 2008, Buruma was awarded the
Erasmus Prize, which is awarded to an individual who has made "an especially important contribution to culture, society or social science in Europe".[21] He was included in Foreign Policy magazine's 2010 list of the "100 top global thinkers".[22]
Buruma has been married twice. He and his first wife, Sumie Tani, had a daughter, as did he and his second wife, Eri Hotta.[23][24] Buruma is a nephew of the English film director
John Schlesinger, with whom he published a series of interviews in book form.[25]
He argued in 2001 for wholehearted British participation in the
European Union because they were the "strongest champions in Europe of a liberal approach to commerce and politics".[26]
Richie, Donald & Ian Buruma (1980). The Japanese Tattoo. Weatherhill.
Buruma, Ian (1983). Behind the Mask: On Sexual Demons, Sacred Mothers, Transvestites, Gangsters, Drifters, and Other Japanese Cultural Heroes. New American Library.
Grenzen aan de vrijheid: van De Sade tot Wilders (Limits to Freedom: From
De Sade to
Wilders) (2010)
ISBN978-90-477-0262-7 – Essay for the Month of Philosophy in the Netherlands.
The Churchill Complex: The Rise and Fall of the Special Relationship and the End of the Anglo-American Order. United Kingdom:
Atlantic Books. 2020.
ISBN978-1-78649-465-8.[c]
The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II,
Penguin Random House, 2023.