Early years
Douwes Dekker was born in Pasuruan, in the north eastern city of Java, 80 km south of Surabaya. His father was Auguste Henri Edouard Douwes Dekker, a broker and bank agent,[1] of a Dutch family living in the then-Dutch East Indies. His mother was Louisa Margaretha Neumann, of half-German and half-Javanese descent; the younger Douwes Dekker was related to the famous writer, Eduard Douwes Dekker, author of Max Havelaar, who was his grandfather's brother.[2]