M. Balfas
M. Balfas Balfas was born in Krukut, Batavia, Dutch East Indies, on 25 December 1922. He came from an ethnic Betawi family. Little is known about his early life, except that he graduated from a Dutch-run high school (MULO) in 1940. Balfas began his writing career in the 1940s. His 1st short stories were published in Asia Raja, the official newspaper of the Japanese occupation government, in 1943. He later began contributing poems, stories, and essays to the Indonesian-run magazine Pembaroean. During the Indonesian National Revolution, Balfas found employment as a reporter. He also headed the magazine Masyarakat. In 1952 Balfas released Dr. Tjipto Mangunkusumo, a biography of the resistance leader of the same name; it was published by Djambatan as part of series of biographies of revolutionary leaders. That same year he released Lingkaran-Lingkaran Retak, a collection of five short stories, led by "Anak Revolusi" ("Child of the Revolution"). In 1953, with Sudjati S...