author
J. van den Brand
d. 1921
Best known for a fierce early-20th-century exposé of abuse in the Dutch East Indies, this Dutch lawyer-writer used his pen to challenge the plantation system in Deli. His work still stands out for its directness, urgency, and moral courage.
2 Audiobooks
De millioenen uit Deli
by J. van den Brand
Nog eens: de millioenen uit Deli
by J. van den Brand
About the author
J. van den Brand, often identified in contemporary sources as Mr. J. van den Brand, was a Dutch lawyer and author active around the turn of the 20th century. He is chiefly remembered for De millioenen uit Deli (1902), a sharp critique of labor abuses on plantations in Deli on the east coast of Sumatra, then part of the Dutch East Indies.
Van den Brand wrote from close knowledge of colonial society in Sumatra. Later commentary describes him as a lawyer in Medan, and his Deli writings became closely associated with public controversy over the treatment of contracted laborers. His work was influential enough to be discussed in later historical and literary sources, and it remains the reason readers still seek him out today.
Because reliable biographical details about his personal life are limited in the sources found here, the clearest way to understand him is through his writing: urgent, critical, and deeply engaged with injustice. Rather than offering detached description, van den Brand wrote to expose what he believed readers in the Netherlands needed to see.