I feel as if there is something peculiar about this boy... he is destined to meet many dangers in his life, hut he will always survive unscathed..." With these words, a balian or holy priest annointed a young Balinese prince, citing as evidence a curious birthmark between the boy's collar bones.

From the jungles of Sulawesi to the streets of pre-war Amsterdam, The Birthmark tells the extraordinary story of a young Balinese prince as he grows up within the confines of a Balinese palace, faces culture shock during his education in Europe and embarks on a career as a roving doctor. Fighting disease and malnutrition in some of the remotest parts of the world, his account provides a fascinating evocation of a world long gone, as well as an insight into present-day Indonesia.

A.A. MADÉ DJELANTIK was born in 1919 in Karangasem, east Bali. Son of the last Raja of Karangasem, he was educated in Denpasar and Java, and at the University of Amsterdam in Holland. Graduating after World War II as a doctor, he worked in various parts of the archipelago for the Indonesian Ministry of Health, eventually attaining the position of Bali's Chief Medical Officer in 1957. In 1969 he became a malariologist with the World Health Organisation, taking postings in lraq, Somalia and Afghanistan. After retirement in 1979, he returned to Bali, where he currently resides.