Anthony (Tony) Hearle Johns was born into a family descended from English forebears on his mother’s side and Hungarian on his father’s. He enjoyed explaining that his paternal ancestor, Janos Naszinsky, who migrated to England in the 1880s, expressed his respect for his new land by changing his name to John Johns. Tony’s father married into an English family and Tony was educated at St Boniface’s Catholic College in Plymouth. He attributed his own extraordinary powers of re-call, especially for reciting English poetry, to his Benedictine teachers. His lifelong sense of the majesty of God as well as his love of music and his ability to play both organ and piano were nurtured there.
In one of his many articles for the Pakistan-based international journal Hamdard Islamicus Tony describes the next stage of his life, which he calls ‘his journey of exploration’ and his first direct experience of Islam, an exploration that would last until his death. Tony writes that as a post-World War II British conscript he served as a non-commissioned officer and was sent to the Malay state of Johor in 1946-47 to teach English to locally enlisted Malay soldiers. During the fasting month of Ramadan, he was impressed by the devotion of the Malay soldiers who maintained their fast from dawn until sunset continuing their normal tasks through the heat of the day. He writes poetically about the excitement and joy of the Malay villagers as they waited for the appearance of the new moon that signalled the end of the fasting month and he describes the effect attending the congregational prayer at the great mosque of Johor Baru had on him. The rhythmic, melodic chanting of the phrase ‘Allahu Akbar’ before the celebratory ritual prayer was like ‘the surge of the sea.’ The experience, he writes ‘held me enthralled’ and ‘impelled’ him to enrol in the London School of Oriental and African Studies for a degree in Malay with Arabic ‘as a subsidiary subject.’
There he became fascinated by the gnostic texts of Islam and their impact on 16th and 17th century Southeast Asian Muslim scholars. This became the subject of a doctoral thesis on Sufism in the Malay world, drawing on an anonymous collection of Malay manuscripts in British libraries. After completing his degree and the doctoral thesis (1950-1954), Tony writes that none of his London supervisory panel had mentioned that he should also be studying the Qur’an. And here, Tony reaches the heart of what he began to understand at that time and later developed in his lifetime of research. ‘To be understood and appreciated for what it claims to be, the Qur’an requires an encounter and response that is at one and the same time, personal, moral, literary and aesthetic.’ (A.H. Johns, ‘Holy Ground: A Space to Share’, Address of Prof A.H. Johns for Pakistan History Conference 2010. Hamdard Islamicus, Vol. XXXIII, No.2, pp. 57-69.)
Other non-Muslim Europeans had been studying the Quran and its exegeses by Southeast Asian Muslims since the time of Raffles, John Leyden and the great Dutch scholars of the 19th century. But the majority, if not all, were first and foremost colonial administrators whose focus on ‘local’ Islam-inspired religious texts was pragmatic – curious at best and suspicious at worst. Tony Johns, living in the dawn of a post-colonial world, freed from the roles of colonial official, and living within local communities as a foreigner but accepted by the locals, was able to appreciate the lived expressions of Islam in daily life. He was among the first non-Muslim scholars to recognise that the expression and exegesis of Islam in the Malayo-Indonesian world was as valid as the practice of Islam and Islamic scholarship by Muslims in the Islamic heartland of Mecca and Madina.
After completing his PhD Tony decided to return to Southeast Asia, this time to West Sumatra as a teacher of English as a foreign language working for the Ford Foundation. He again immersed himself in local life. He learned the regional language of the matriarchal, strongly Muslim Minangkabau society and fell in love with the intelligent and very lovely Yohanni Bey, daughter of the local inspector of schools and herself a teacher. Yohanni’s family were devout Muslims and the proposal of marriage to a much-loved daughter by a Christian foreigner was challenging for them. The Bey family aligned with the Muhammadiyah, modernist approach to Islam but in the 1950s West Sumatra was still a conservative society and Yohanni’s marriage to a non-Muslim was difficult for her family to accept. A cross-cultural, inter-faith marriage was a courageous decision for the couple to make. They married in London in 1956 and had 69 years together before Tony’s death.
Not long after their marriage, Tony applied for the position to teach Malay (and later Indonesian) in Canberra, under Professor Bielenstein, founder of the School of Oriental Studies, Canberra University College in 1953. He was appointed as Senior Lecturer and Tony and Yohanni arrived in the modest national capital in 1958 and made it their life-long home. In 1960, the University College merged with the Australian National University, whose charter makes the study of Asia a national priority. The events of the Cold War and the policies of Asia’s post-colonial leaders ensured that events in Asia would be of interest to Australia. Enrolments in the new Faculty of Oriental Studies climbed and in 1963 Tony was appointed to the newly created Chair of Indonesian Languages and Literature.
Thus it was that in February 1964, at 5pm on a warm Canberra afternoon, the Haydon-Allen lecture theatre at the Australian National University was filled with over 60 students, of all ages, waiting for their first lecture in Bahasa Indonesia I. Suddenly necks craned when a tall, slim, athletic and youthful man bounded onto the podium. I was one of those 60 students and we were all rivetted by the energy of the person who then introduced himself as Professor Johns, our Indonesian lecturer. He inspired us with his account of the history of this young national language, brought into being by a group of nationalist young Dutch East Indies ‘natives’ in 1928. We would be learning a language that was growing and developing along with our knowledge of it, he said. This was our introduction to a much admired and respected 36 year-old professor, Tony Johns, whose enthusiasm for all the subjects he taught was infectious.
The teaching team he had assembled were all native speakers and included Yohanni (an experienced teacher of English for foreign learners, who turned her skills to teaching Indonesian to foreign learners), Dr Soebardi (expert in Javanese and Indonesian grammar) and his wife Elly, as well as Indonesia’s well known writer Achdiat Kartamihardja (who introduced students to the newly developing modern Indonesian literature, of which he was also part). Soon after, Dr Soewito Santoso and Dr Supomo were appointed to teach Javanese (ancient and modern) as well as Indonesian. Yohanni Johns developed state of the art texts for teaching Indonesian to beginners and continuing students. Her books and materials have recently been revised and updated to reflect the new technologies of the 21st century. The new professor’s judgment in making these appointments and his trust in these pioneers of Indonesian and Javanese language and culture would be amply rewarded. Graduates from the Tony Johns Department of Indonesian and Malay became senior officers in the Department of Foreign Affairs (as it was then), school-teachers, academics, librarians, intelligence analysts, journalists, and members of the defence forces.
In June 1964, Tony delivered his Inaugural Lecture as Professor of Indonesian Languages and Literature, entitled ‘Indonesian Studies in Australia: An Open Horizon’. He made a point of acknowledging both Professor Trendall, then Deputy Vice-Chancellor, and Professor Burton’s special interest in and support for the development of Oriental Studies as a Faculty within the university and for making possible the establishment of the Chair of Indonesian Languages and Literature, the first in the British Commonwealth. In the lecture Tony stated that ‘Asian civilization and culture is gradually being accepted as a proper option for university study in the Humanities.’ It was, he said, something that was academically tremendously exciting. ‘It is this integration into the Humanities of the study of Asian culture and history for their own sake and in their own terms that I wish to stress, because here in Australia it seems that there is a unique opportunity for success … for the simple human reason that there is a new world on our doorstep which invites enquiry and exploration; a new world which presents to the undergraduate student the challenge of the unfamiliar.’ Perhaps, in his retirement years, he remembered these words delivered in the early 1960s and enjoyed a quiet moment of satisfaction.
Throughout his life, Tony kept in touch with Indonesian literary developments. He was particularly interested in debates about expressions of ‘the self’ (a concept not developed in traditional literatures) and the heated literary exchanges among writers about the forms and themes Indonesia’s contemporary literature should develop. His first major publication on that topic, which was widely quoted for at least the following two decades, is his chapter entitled ‘Genesis of a Modern Literature’ pp.410-555, in Indonesia, the classic collection of essays by international experts on the new nation, edited by Ruth T. McVey, Yale University, HRAF Press, New Haven 1963.
Tony’s overview of Indonesian literature begins with traditional pre-20th century Malayo-Indonesian literature and continues with contemporary works published up to 1961. It is both a historical survey and an analysis of the major literary works written before and during the Soekarno era. Throughout the 1960s, Tony was a regular contributor to the Asia-Australia magazine Hemisphere, introducing modern Indonesian literature to readers and reviewing (often sternly but fairly) the English translations of Indonesian works that were beginning to appear. Later, he also contributed to Meanjin Quarterly and Quadrant.
It should not be forgotten that between 1966 and 1972 Tony, together with Dr D. J. (Jack) Prentice, were Editors of the first comprehensive and linguistically underpinned Dewan English Malay Dictionary. Financed and produced by Malaysia’s government-sponsored Language and Literature Board, the dictionary followed the Oxford Dictionary model of ‘language in context’ examples of usage for each entry. A major undertaking, including overseeing a large team of editorial assistants, it was completed in Malaysia and finally published in in 1992. This was just one of the important projects Tony was engaged in during his first decade as professor.
As well, he served two terms as Dean of the Faculty of Asian Studies, liaised with the Indonesian embassy and the Indonesian community, and accepted many, many invitations to be guest speaker on Indonesia, Islam, or both. He was a founding member of the Australia Indonesia Association’s ACT Branch with his service being recognised at the Association’s recent Diamond Jubilee. All this while maintaining his day job of teaching undergraduates, supervising graduate students, and continuing his own research.
Tony had been teaching classical Arabic as part of the undergraduate degree in Indonesian language and literature since the mid-1960s. In 1980 he organised the well-attended international conference ‘The Qur’an through Fourteen Centuries’, held at the ANU to mark the beginning of the 14th hijra century following the Islamic calendar. It was attended by Muslim and non-Muslim scholars of Islam from across the globe and show-cased the ANU as a centre of Islamic studies.
In his own research during the 1970s, as he turned increasingly to the writings of the great scholars of Islam such as 11th-12th century philosopher al-Ghazali, Tony felt he needed a deeper understanding of Quranic Arabic, the language of Allah’s revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. In 1980, he spent his study-leave in Cairo boarding with the Friars of the Dominican Institute of Oriental Studies in Cairo and working on texts in advanced classical Arabic, learning from the knowledge and experience of the Friars. From that experience flowed the confidence and conviction evident in all his writings on the Quran that followed. Some years afterwards he explained why scholarly engagement with the Quran is a necessity for serious research by non-Muslims: ‘…an awareness of the role of the Qur’an is a necessary background for an understanding of the values and dynamics of Muslim societies, an understanding of the Qur’an as Muslims understand it, an understanding that Muslims recognise as the foundation of their religion, that underlies the variety of ways in which these values and dynamics are realised.’ (Hamdard Islamicus Vol. XXXIII, No.2, 2010:63.)
During his 32 years of retirement, almost as long as he had spent in service at the ANU, Tony continued his Quran-inspired research at a rate fettered only by interruptions occasioned by health issues which he and his health team met and dealt with as they arose. Tony’s colleague and friend, Emeritus Professor Greg Fealy has calculated that over his lifetime Tony published ‘more than 100 scholarly articles and chapters and authored 10 books, covering subjects from classical Malay texts and the history of Islamisation to Qur’anic exegesis, Southeast Asian mysticism, and comparative studies of prophets in Islam, Judaism and Christianity’ (Greg Fealy, ‘Restoring Religious and Cultural Complexity to the Study of Southeast Asian Islam’, unpublished Inaugural Tony and Yohanni Johns Lecture, College of Asia and the Pacific, 29 September 2022.)
To the above list should be added a beautiful volume published by The Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge UK, dated 2025. An advance copy reached Tony not long before he died. In the tradition of the great classical treatises of Islam it has a lengthy title: Al-Ghazali: Proper Conduct when Listening to Music & the Experience of Ecstasy Kitab adab al-sama‘ w’l-wajd The Book XVIII of the Revival of the Religious Sciences, Ihya Ulum al-Din Translated with Introduction and Notes by Anthony H. Johns. It is a volume with special meaning for Tony for it brings together his respect for and love of the Quran, his admiration for the genius and human-ness al-Ghazali, and his appreciation of the Sufi’s yearning for union of the human soul with the One.
Tony’s academic legacy is vast: but three aspects shine out. The first is his leadership of the formal study of Indonesian language and literature at Australia’s national university and his insistence that language study must be accompanied by the study of a discipline. The second is his respect for and insight into Malayo-Indonesian exegeses of the Quran, particularly those of the great 16th and 17th century Indonesian scholar-Sufis. From them came his deep appreciation of the all-embracing nature of the Holy Quran which he refined in his years of retirement.
Third, based on his study of the prophetic traditions shared by the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam he suggests that although there are critical differences in the narrative of Abraham presented in Jewish, Christian and Islamic scriptures, he asks, ‘Can common ground be found beneath the theological and cultural clothing with which the three traditions invest Abraham?’ (‘ “Abraham, our father in faith…?” A Reflection on Christian-Muslim Consociation’ in Anthony H. Johns, The Dye of God: Essays on Islam and the Qur’an, 239-258, AFT Press, Adelaide, 2023.) After comparing the accounts of Abraham in the scriptures of the three great faiths he concludes that there are important differences and he suggests that perhaps ‘the need to face the reality of these perceptions of Abraham, is one of the ways in which we are put to the test. How to recognise these divisions, and to find ways of making the best of the situation… by searching for shared values within or concealed by different theological narratives… attempting to find what can be shared, while still respecting, preserving, being faithful to the definitive and distinguishing core formulations of each faith community.’ (The Dye of God: 255). Typical of much of his writing, Tony concludes his essay with a contemporary example. In the context of Australia’s commemoration of ANZAC Day, he reminds us that the during the cease fire periods in the bloody fighting between Turkish Muslim soldiers and Australian Christian soldiers, respect was shown for each side’s dead and wounded and he quotes Ataturk’s compassionate words: ‘… There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side in this country of ours… having lost their lives on this land, they have become our sons as well.’ (The Dye of God:257). In this age of concern about ‘social cohesion’ Tony’s writings suggest a variety of ways forward.
Tony was elected to the Academy of the Humanities in 1971 and until his retirement contributed to its administration and policies as a Council member in 1979 and Vice-President in 1980-1981. He was Head of the Asian Studies Section from 1979-1982, and a member of the Committee of Foreign Languages from 1987-1993. In retirement he was a member of the Languages Committee in 1994.
During his lifetime Tony was recognised for his academic leadership and scholarship. His appointment as inaugural professor of Indonesian Languages and Literature at Australia’s national university when he was only 35 is itself remarkable. During his career, universities and research institutions in Israel and Japan, offered him visiting research fellowships, and an international conference was held at the ANU in 1993 to mark his retirement. It was attended by leading scholars of Islam who came from China, Israel, and around Australia to honour his scholarly contributions to the study of Islam.
In retirement he was made Professor Emeritus of the Australian National University and Honorary Professor of the Australian Catholic University. In 2010, the Hamdard Foundation of Pakistan dedicated the book Essays on Islam to him as a Felicitation Volume for his outstanding contribution to Qur’anic Studies. In 2015, the Indonesian Government’s Department of Education and Culture invested him with the Cultural Appreciation award (Penghargaan Kebudayaan) for his outstanding contribution to the study of Indonesian and Old Javanese in Australia. Only three foreigners are awarded this honour each year.
In 2021 the late Emeritus Professor Anthony Reid initiated the Tony and Yohanni Johns Endowment at the ANU to honour their contribution to the study of Indonesia and Southeast Asian Islam. The endowment was augmented by friends and family of Tony and Yohanni and supports an annual lecture that celebrates their achievements and presents new research on Indonesia by eminent scholars. The lectures, hosted by ANU’s Indonesia Institute in the College of Asia and the Pacific, are available on YouTube.
Shortly before his death, Tony was awarded the Medal in the Order of Australia (AM), for ‘significant service to tertiary education, particularly to language and culture’.
Tony is survived by a large, talented, and devoted family: his beloved wife Yohanni Bey Johns OAM , their children Gregory, Francis, Monica, Michael, and David, as well as Tony and Yohanni’s 13 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
O soul at peace, return to your Lord
Well pleased and well-pleasing to Him
Take your place among My faithful servants
Enter My paradise. Quran 80: (al-Fajr) 27.
Virginia Hooker AM FAHA
Australian National University
I am very grateful to Emeritus Professor Greg Fealy for allowing me to refer to his Tony and Yohanni Johns Inaugural Lecture, delivered 29 September 2022, and my thanks to Tony and Yohanni’s son, Michael Johns, for his technical and other assistance which enabled Tony to publish his two last books, and for responding to my queries about his family.
