Jan C. Terlouw, son of a clergyman, was born in 1931. In his youth he lived in various villages in the central part of the Netherlands. Some of his experiences during the last year of the war can be found in Winter in Wartime. Mr. Terlouw studied mathematics and physics at the State University in Utrecht and took his degree on a thesis concerning thermonuclear research.
Jan Terlouw's first book appeared in 1970 and was given first prize by the children's juries of both Rotterdam and The Hague. Since then his novel How to Become King has been an international success, being awarded the 1972 Best Dutch Juvenile prize, and in 1973 the second prize in the Fifth European Juvenile Competition in Padua.
In 1971 Mr. Terlouw left nuclear research and became a member of parliament, eventually serving as Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister. He is interested mostly in the control of the environment, energy, industry, and the management of science. He married to Alexandra van Hulst in 1956, and they had four children together, later becoming grandparents to twelve grandchildren.
