ABSTRACT
Ilona Zboray, a young Hungarian woman, arrived in the Indonesian archipelago in the mid-1930s to visit her brother, Ernő Zboray, who had been working in Java since 1921. They both wrote a good number of articles about the islands, with Ernő writing three books about Java as well. Ilona published several articles in the mid-1930s, focusing on culture and women’s life in Bali, along with some noteworthy photographs. This was at a time when Bali, known as “the last paradise,” was in its heyday and was one of the most coveted tourist destinations in the world. This chapter adds the name of Ilona Zboray to the list of known Asian travelers, among whom many more are men than women. I raise questions that are prefigured in her own writing: Did she try to understand and accept the different mindset of the locals? Did her attitude offer her a closer insight and deeper understanding of the worldview of the people of Java and Bali? Or as a stranger, even despite her best intentions, was she merely an intruder?
