Biography

Melati van Java was the pen name of Nicolina Maria "Marie" Sloot (1853–1927). She was an Indonesian-born Dutch writer. During the period around the start of the 20th century, her novels were popular with the Dutch public. She was born in Semarang in Java. In 1871, her family returned to the Netherlands. She began publishing under the name Mathilde in 1872, later using her famous pen name Melati van Java. In 1893, she was invited to join Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, the Dutch literary society, one of the first women to become a member. Later in life, she also used the pseudonym Max van Ravestein. Some of her work was translated into German, French and Danish.Read More...