N. Breukels was a Dutch newspaper administrator who spent thirty-two years in North Sumatra and who, from 1920 until the Japanese invasion, was employed at the Atjeh-drukkerij (the Atjeh Printing Office) in Kotaradja. In 1946 he was appointed administrator (administrateur) of the N.V. De Deli Courant. He was repatriated to the Netherlands on 6 November 1950.
Career in Atjeh
Breukels’ long tenure at the Atjeh-drukkerij in Kotaradja — from 1920 until the Japanese invasion of 1942 — spanned over two decades of the late colonial period in Atjeh. The Atjeh-drukkerij was the principal printing establishment in the Atjeh capital, serving both the colonial administration and the European and indigenous business community. Breukels’ presence there placed him at the heart of the print-culture infrastructure of colonial Atjeh.
Post-war career
After the Japanese capitulation, Breukels did not return to Atjeh. Instead, in 1946, he was appointed administrator of the N.V. De Deli Courant, the principal Dutch-language newspaper of the East Coast of Sumatra, based in Medan. He was described as “een populaire figuur van de oude garde” (“a popular figure of the old guard”).
He was succeeded as acting administrator by B. A. Plaat on 4 November 1950, two days before his own repatriation.
Source
Oostkust van Sumatra-Instituut Mededeling No. 37: Deli-Figuren uit de jaren 1950 t/m 1952, compiled by Ir. F. J. J. Dootjes (Amsterdam, 1953).