Tillema was born in 1870. Living in
Semarang on
Java in the
Dutch East Indies, he was a pharmacist and
social reformer. His program of "village improvement" () aimed to improve living conditions and health among the native
Javanese. He worked with city doctor
Willem Thomas de Vogel to try to develop healthier land in the nearby hills, relieving overcrowding and improving health among Semarang's poor, but was unable to sway the rest of the city council. The land he and de Vogel purchased was eventually used for
Thomas Karsten's upscale residential district New Candi (), now Candisari. He died in 1952. ==Works==