"Multatuli" Amsterdam Travelogue by CoAir13

While walking through Amsterdam, I came across this interesting sculpture of a man...and I took it for granted his name was Multatuli. I had never heard of him and I wondered why he deserved to adorn this bridge so I took a photo took research it when I got home. Later that day, I asked Vince who this man was and he replied "He was a Dutch writer".
I looked him up on the internet and this is what I found:

Multatuli is the pseudonym of Eduard Douwes Dekker (1820-1887). After 18 years of civil service in the Dutch East Indies, he returned to Europe in 1856 a disillusioned man. The way the natives were treated by their own as well as by the Dutch rulers offended him so much that he resigned after a public conflict. In his novel Max Havelaar he recorded his experiences. The book was published in 1860 and made him an instant success. Encouraged by this public acclaim, he decided to pursue a career as a writer. He became a sort of national conscience, inspiring emancipatory movements such as freethinkers, socialists and anarchists. Multatuli's career as a writer lasted exactly as long as his career as an official: 18 years. Then, once more profoundly disillusioned, he decided to give up writing and took refuge in Germany, where he died in February 1887.

I have since gone to the library and got some books with his writings and about him. I love when I discover new and interesting people I have never heard of. They are often the most prolific when you happen upon them this way. I only wish I would have known this while I was there. There is a Museum dedicated to him in the home of his birth.......a few steps from where this statue is.