Justus van Maurik

Born in Amsterdam on 16 August 1846, he became known as a Dutch author and cigar maker, often referred to as Justus van Maurik Jr. His writing drew heavily on the city around him, especially ordinary Amsterdam life, and he built a reputation for farces, humorous plays, and popular stories.

In 1878 he published his first novel, Mie de porster. Sources also note that he went on to produce a large body of work and that many of his books were illustrated by Johan Braakensiek. Alongside his literary career, he was involved in the founding of De Amsterdammer in 1877, a paper that later became De Groene Amsterdammer.

Van Maurik died in Amsterdam on 18 November 1904. Though he is less widely read today, he was remembered as a vivid chronicler of old Amsterdam and its people, with a style that mixed sentiment, comedy, and close attention to everyday speech and character.