Multatuli and Max Havelaar

Eduard Douwes Dekker, better known by his pseudonym Multatuli, was a Dutch author and civil servant whose most memorable work, ‘Max Havelaar, or The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch East India Company,’ was published in 1860. The name ‘Multatuli,’ derived from Latin and meaning ‘I have borne much (suffering),’ became his pen name in the literary world.


Dekker was born and raised in Amsterdam. In 1838, he travelled with his father to Batavia in the Dutch East Indies, now Jakarta in Indonesia. There, he obtained a position as a civil servant in 1839. During his time in the Dutch East Indies, he was confronted with countless abuses that took place under the Dutch colonial regime. Much of this abuse was due to the so-called culture system, a tax system introduced in 1830 by Governor-General Johannes van den Bosch with the aim of making the colony financially profitable for the Netherlands.


In 1860, ‘Max Havelaar’ was published. This novel is structured as a frame narrative, with multiple storylines intertwining. It begins with the story of Batavus Droogstoppel, a coffee broker and the prototype of a petty bourgeois, unimaginative, and stingy man. Droogstoppel embodies the Dutch exploitation of the colony. The story begins when Droogstoppel is approached by an old classmate named Sjaalman, who asks him to publish a manuscript.


The manuscript is then presented, with interruptions from Droogstoppel's commentary. Broadly speaking, the character Max Havelaar is based on Eduard Douwes Dekker's own experiences as a civil servant in the Dutch East Indies. Max Havelaar stands up for the oppressed Javanese population, but is confronted with opposition from his Dutch superiors and local profiteers who collaborate with the Dutch.


Initially, the novel was received with scepticism, but it quickly gained popularity. Max Havelaar was even discussed in the Dutch House of Representatives. The book fits into the broader literary movement of nineteenth-century writers who used their work to speak out against injustice.


Max Havelaar continues to be reprinted to this day. The book has been translated into dozens of languages and was described in 1999 by Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer in The New York Times as ‘The Book That Killed Colonialism’. The statue of Multatuli, unveiled by Queen Beatrix in 1987, stands on the Torensluis and commemorates his lasting influence.