the already married De Hoog, was able to pursue an academic education in the Netherlands in 1914. In record time he graduated from Leiden University in 1916. The next year he and his wife traveled back to the Dutch East Indies via the United States. In Batavia he became the right-hand man of the director of the State Railway company and in 1922 its principal officer in Jogjakarta. In 1925 he was promoted again and moved to Bandung as Inspector First Class. Political career Meanwhile, De Hoog had also commenced his political career and soon became the main leader of the IEV (Indo European Alliance), the most important Indo emancipation movement of the time. Founded by Karel Zaalberg in 1919 De Hoog joined the IEV board of directors in 1920. In 1922 he became its vice-president and in 1923 its representative in the Volksraad an infant form of parliament. When in 1927 he joined the 'Board of Delegates', responsible for the daily administration of the 'Volksraad', he requested honorable discharge of his job with the State Railway organisation. De Hoog was now totally dedicated to his political aspirations. After initially having a two-headed presidency De Hoog became the IEV's sole President in 1929. That same year De Hoog, lovingly nicknamed the 'Big Boss', was responsible for successfully attracting close to 15,000 members. In 1930 he became deputy chairman of the 'Board of Delegates' and vice chairman of the 'Volksraad'. By now the IEV had grown into the largest political fraction in the 'Volksraad'. In his political functions De Hoog proved to be a skillful administrator, shrewd politician and excellent orator. Both friend and foe praised his immaculate memory, subject matter knowledge, discretion and strong work ethic. De Hoog considered solidarity essential to further emancipation and his first priority was to ensure unity within all social layers of the Indo community of the plural and polarized Dutch East Indies. Under his leadership the organisation struggled to acquire both civil rights for natives of the colony as well as increased self-determination for the Dutch East Indies. The colonial authorities however continued to procrastinate democratic progress and the Dutch East Indies remained considerably more centralised and conservative than the Netherlands. Key issues like uplifting the ban on land ownership for Indos and autonomy for the colony were never resolved. Final years In 1938 the IEV celebrated De Hoog's 10 years as president and