Eduard douwes dekker biography sample

Unless you were born in The Netherlands or Indonesia the name Multatuli probably means nothing to you, yet in 2002 the Society for Dutch Literature declared him to be the most important Dutch writer of all time

His statue, dramatically hewn in bronze, which stares statesmanlike out from Torensluis Square across the Singel canal in Amsterdam offers a useful metaphor for this undoubtedly courageous, yet flawed and contradictory man, for it bears scant resemblance to the figure we see depicted in contemporary photographs which reveal a slightly manic looking man with bulging eyes, gazing into the middle distance with a mixture of self importance and suffering.

It seems that people have always made what they want of Multatuli, and taken what they choose to from his work. For some he is the courageous defender of the abused Javanese whose novel offers avant la lettre postcolonial theories about colonial psychology and imperialist ideologies, for others he is a hot headed, rash, and possibly corrupt civil servant whose writings are nothing more than a self serving swipe at a government who refused to give him what he saw as his just rewards.

Born Eduard Douwes Dekker in Amsterdam in 1820, he took the pen name Multatuli, Latin for, ‘I have suffered much,’ when he published the semi-autobiographical novel Max Havelaar on which his fame, and infamy, are based. The novel highlights the abuses of the Dutch Colonial system and was an instant best-seller in The Netherlands, translated and read all over Europe. It has been compared to Uncle Tom’s Cabin for opening the eyes of its readers to the systematic abuse of an entire people.

The lasting appeal of the novel rests partly on the, at times, astonishingly modern prose and innovative structure of the book as well as an enduring fascination with the truth, or otherwise, of a case at the heart of the novel and the true nature of Dekker as a man.

The statue of Multatuli in Amsterdam

Dekker’s story began wh

In his novel Max Havelaar of de koffieveilingen der Nederlandsche Handel-Maatschappij (Max Havelaar or the Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company; 1860) the Dutch writer Multatuli offered a critical description of the colony of the Netherlands Indies (present-day Indonesia). This novel hails as the most important work of Dutch literature, and Multatuli as the most important Dutch author.

Multatuli (literally, "I have sustained a lot") is the pseudonym of the eccentric Eduard Douwes Dekker, who was born in Amsterdam in 1820 and died in Nieder-Ingelheim, Germany, in 1887. Dekker entered the service of the Dutch colonial government in 1839 in Batavia (present-day Jakarta), worked in faraway parts of the archipelago, and rose to a high administrative post.

In 1856, shortly after his appointment as assistant resident of Lebak in west Java, Dekker became involved in an official conflict. The controversy related to the exploitation of the native population, which was being ill-treated by its own leaders, and the manner in which Dutch authorities attempted to deal with this problem. Dekker advocated immediate radical action. His superiors, however, were convinced of the importance of the role of traditional leaders as representatives of Dutch authority toward the native population, and they held dear to their circumspection and tact. They refused to arrest chiefs before inquiries were made or to criticize them openly. To Dekker their attitude exemplified weakness and ignorance. Dekker resigned his post after the highest Dutch authority in the region, the governor-general, ruled against him.

Back in Europe, Dekker, using the name Multatuli, wrote an idealized autobiography in Max Havelaar, drafting what became a self-portrait. With this work, Multatuli revealed himself to be a phenomenal stylist and a writer with strong powers of persuasion. In opposition to Havelaar—presented as the ideal administrator who is available to t

Indonesia politician

Ernest François Eugène Douwes Dekker also known as Setyabudi or Setiabudi (8 October 1879 – 28 August 1950) was an Indonesian-Dutchnationalist and politician of Indo descent. He was related to the famous Dutch anti-colonialism writer Multatuli, whose real name was Eduard Douwes Dekker ("Douwes Dekker" being their surname). In his youth, he fought in the Second Boer War in South Africa on the Boer side. His thoughts were highly influential in the early years of the Indonesian freedom movement.

After Indonesian independence, he adopted the Sundanese name Danoedirdja Setiaboedi.

Early years

Douwes Dekker was born in Pasuruan, in the north east of Java, 50 miles (80 km) south of Surabaya. His father was Auguste Henri Edouard Douwes Dekker, a broker and bank agent, of a Dutch family living in the then-Dutch East Indies. His Indo (Eurasian) mother was Louisa Margaretha Neumann, of half-German and half-Javanese descent. Douwes Dekker's great-uncle was the famous writer Eduard Douwes Dekker, author of Max Havelaar.

After studying in Lower School in Pasuruan, he moved to Surabaya, and later to Batavia. In 1897, he gained his diploma and worked on a coffee plantation in Malang, East Java. Later he moved to a sugar plantation in Kraksaan, East Java. During his years in these plantations, he came in contact with ordinary Javanese and saw the realities of their hard work.

Second Boer War

In 1900,

Dutch writer

Eduard Douwes Dekker (2 March 1820 – 19 February 1887), better known by his pen name Multatuli (from Latinmulta tulī, "I have suffered much"), was a Dutch writer best known for his satirical novel Max Havelaar (1860), which denounced the abuses of colonialism in the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia). He is considered one of the Netherlands' greatest authors.

Family and education

Eduard Douwes Dekker was born in Amsterdam, the fourth of five children of a Mennonite family: the other children were Catharina (1809–1849), Pieter Engel (1812–1861), Jan (1816–1864), and Willem (1823–1840). Their mother, Sietske Eeltjes Klein (sometimes written "Klijn"), was born on Ameland.

Multatuli’s father, Engel Douwes Dekker, worked as a sea captain from the Zaan district of North Holland. Engel inherited the surnames of both his parents, Pieter Douwes and Engeltje Dekker, and Multatuli’s family retained both names. Multatuli’s elder brother, Jan Douwes Dekker (1816–1864), was the grandfather of Ernest Douwes Dekker, a politician of Dutch-Javanese descent.

As an adolescent, Multatuli attended school in Amsterdam, at the Latin school located at the Singel. A precursor of the present day Barlaeus Gymnasium. His father originally intended for Eduard to become a minister, though the idea was later abandoned. Eduard then worked for a time at a textile firm, as a clerk.

Career in Dutch East Indies

Natal, Sumatra

In 1838, he left on one of his father's ships for Batavia (present-day Jakarta) in the Dutch East Indies, where over the next two decades he held a series of colonial government posts. Initially employed in the general accounting department, he was promoted in the following years to administrative officer, although h