Walter Spies

German, 1895 - 1942

BiographySpies sailed to Indonesia in 1923 and remained there until his death on a ship that was bombed by the Japanese en route to Sri Lanka in 1942. He was perhaps the most influential Westerner living in Bali in the 1930s.

"Spies was arrested for so-called indecent behaviour and set to prison from December 1938 until September 1939. But Spies continued and, under the influence of Dr. Lieftinck of the zoological museum, he started observing and drawing insects and marine-fauna."

Person TypeIndividual