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Herman Heijermans — A Biographical Sketch

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Herman Heijermans and His Dramas

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Abstract

Herman Heijermans Jr. was a citizen of Rotterdam by birth, a citizen of Amsterdam by personal preference, and a citizen of the world by acclamation. The eldest son in a family of eleven children, he was born in the merchant city on the Meuse on December 3, 1864. He had three older and four younger sisters, and three brothers, one of whom died in childhood. His father, Herman Heijermans Sr., was a well-known and respected journalist in Rotterdam, whose talents and career had a considerable influence on the life of his famous son.

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Notes

  1. Maarten Schneider, De Nederlandse Krant,“PATRIA, Vaderlandsche Cultuurgeschiedenis in Monografiën”, XXXII (Amsterdam: van Kampen en Zoon, 1943), photograph facing 136; 180.

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  2. Rees Hazeizet, Rotterdam ( Rotterdam: Nijgh & van Ditmar, 1944 ), 164–66.

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  3. Herman Heyermans Sr., Uit de Herinneringen van een Oude Journalist ( Rotterclam: Denker, 1949 ), 95.

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  4. Personal interview with Mrs. Caroline Heijermans Houwink and Me). H. A. Heijermans, June 9 and 11, 1947.

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  5. In an article published on the tenth anniversary of his brother’s death, Louis Heijermans stated that their mother suffered from neurasthenia, but his sisters say that this is an exaggeration. Cf. L. Heijermans, “De ontwikkelingsjaren van den schrijver Herman Heijermans,” Socialistische Gids, XIX (November 1934), 770.

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  6. Personal interview with Mrs. Caroline Heijermans Houwink and Mej. H. A. Heijermans, June 9 and 11, 1947.

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  7. In his article, op. cit.,Louis Heijermans made some harsh remarks about this school, but according to Mej. Heijermans, it was Louis, rather than Herman, who did not like it.

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  8. Herman Heijermans Jr., ‘n Jodenstreek?, De Gids, LVI (August 1892), 181–229. This story was reprinted in book form ( Amsterdam: Becht, 1893 ).

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  9. Herman Heijermans Jr., “Herinnering,” De Nieuwe Gids Gedenkboek (‘s-Gravenhage: Luctor et Emergo, 1910), 293.

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  10. E. d’Oliveira, Gulden Winckel,XII (November 1913), 163, quotes Heijermans as having said, “I was then a so-called notorious critic, who wrote down the same sort of stupidities as are written down by the gentlemen today.”

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  11. Herman Heijermans, Dora Kremer (Amsterdam: Becht, 1893), v-vi.

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  12. Cf. Ivan Jelakowitch (Herman Heijermans), Ahasverus (Amsterdam: De Maatschappij your goede en goedkoope lectuur, [1912], vi-vii. There were two precedents which may have suggested this. In 1886 Kloos, Verwey, and van Eeden published Julia,a second-rate novel in verse, as the work of an unknown Guido. When the critics praised it, the authors unmasked their plot in De onbevoegdheid der Hollandsche literaire kritiek. In 1889 Holz and Schlaf in Germany published Papa Hamlet,a collection of sketches, as a translation by Dr. Bruno Franzius from the Norwegian of Bjarne P. Holmsen.

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  13. ND,May 18, 1893; AH,May 18 Av., 1893. ‘ Journal des Débats,June 12, 1893.

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  14. T, June 6, 1893. Heijermans reprinted all the reviews of the play side by side in the Zondagsblad, June 10, 1893.

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  15. Cf. H. Brugulans, Het Nieuwe Amsterdam,“Nederlandsche Historische Bibliotheek,” XIII (Amsterdam: Meulenhoff, 1925), 244; 270 ff.

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  16. Cf. Brusse, “Onder de Menschen,” II, NRC, January 16 Av., 1909.

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  18. Samuel Falkland (Herman Heijermans), Schetsen (Amsterdam: Becht, 1903—), I—XVIII.

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  19. Koos Habbema (Herman Heijermans), Kamertjeszonde, De Jonge Gids, I (1897/ 98), and II (1898/99), 13 ff. The novel appeared in book form in the series “Bibliotheek van `De Junge Gids’,” IV ( Amsterdam: Buys, 1898 ).

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  20. Marie Heijermans-Peers (and Hermine Eerens-Heijermans), Met Herman Heijermans in hemel en put (Amsterdam-Utrecht: Cohen’s Boekhandel, 1927), 173. The article that caused Heijermans’ uneasiness was probably “Enquête over de Behandeling van Politieke Misdadigers in Nederlandsche Gevangenissen,” De Jonge Gids, I (1897/98), 681–726.

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  21. Herman Heijermans, “L’Art dramatique en Hollande,” Mercure de France, X (March 1894), 207.

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  22. Both Heijermans’ older sister, Marie, and his younger brother Louis, were associated with the Socialist movement.

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  23. D. J. Wansink, Het Socialisme op de Tweesprong ( Haarlem: Tjeenk Willink & Zoon, 1939 ), 1 - 3.

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  27. The figures quoted by Brugmans, op. cit.,285, indicate that the Jews formed about one-tenth of the population of Amsterdam at this time.

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  28. A. van der Horst, Het Volk,December 11, 1935. The pseudonym was not used.

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  29. For an amusing account of this incident, cf. Heijermans-Peers, op. cit., 20-26, and Heijermans, Causerie, in Kleine Vertelsels ( Amsterdam: De Maatschappij tot verspreiding van goede en goedkoope lectuur, 1931 ), 8 - 10.

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  30. Frans Mijnssen, Het Geschenk 1933, ( Amsterdam: De Vereeniging ter bevordering van de belangen des boekhandels, 1933 ), 88.

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  31. Herman Heijermans, Op Hoop van Zegen (Amsterdam: van Looy, 1914), IV, 3, 116.

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  32. Cf. Hunningher, op. cit.,169, footnote, and 256.

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  33. Herman Heijermans, Allerzielen, Tooneel-Studies (Bussum: van Dishoeck, 1906) II, 13, 93. Cf. also De Schoone Slaapster.

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  34. W. van Itallie-van Embden, Haagsche Post,November 29, 1924. Reprinted in Sprekende Portretten (Rotterdam: Nijgh & van Ditmar’s, 1928), 33-43; 41.

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  35. Herman Heijermans, Schakels, Tooneel-Studies,II (Bussum: van Dishoeck, 1905), II, 4, 72.

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  36. Cf. NRC,February 10, 15, 1904; T,February 14, 1904; AH,Feb. 14 Ocht., 1904; Hunningher, op. cit.,note 109, 258-59; Herman Heijermans, Bloeimaand, Tooneel-Studies,III (Bussum: van Dishoeck, 1905), 133-41.

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  37. Cf. J. N. van Hall, De Gids, LXV (February 1901), 378 - 82.

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  38. Cf. Jac. Rinse, “Schakels,” Het Tooneel, XXXIII (December 1903), 65 - 67.

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  39. Cf. Karel van de Woestijne, Vlaanderen, IV (1906), 49 - 51.

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  40. Henri Dekking, Spel en Dans, I (November 1924), 43.

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  41. According to Frans Hulleman, “Heijermans als Toneelcriticus,” De Toorts,X (November 1934), 109, Rössing, after years of hostility, eventually admitted his appreciation of Heijermans’ work to the playwright himself.

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  42. J. F. Ankersmit, “De Volkskunstenaar Herman Heijermans,” De Toorts, X (November 1934), 102.

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  43. B. Hunningher, Een Eeuw Nederlands Toneel ( Amsterdam: Querido, 1949 ), 83 - 8.

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  44. L. Grapperhaus, Das Litterarische Echo, VI (June 1904), 1188.

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  45. Cf. Herman Heijermans, “Berner Conventie,” De Nieuwe Tijd, X (1905), 209 - 222.

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  46. Hunningher, Toned en werkelijhheid,212.

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  47. Heijermans later gave a humorous description of his attitude toward premières and of his habit of getting as far away from the theatre as possible on such occasions in “Erstaufführungen,” Die Rampe,1912, 121-27.

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  48. Brusse, op. cit.,January 13, 1909.

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  49. Heijermans-Peers, op. cit.,106-108.

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  50. Fritz Engel, Berliner Tageblatt,November 24 Ab., 1924.

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  51. Berliner Tageblatt, September 9 Ab., 12 Ab., 1910. Published as 24 Stunden in der Irrenanstalt ( Berlin: Boll and Pickardt, 1910 ).

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  52. Cf. Heijermans-Peers, op. cit.,134-37.

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  53. Although it was never completed, this novel was published posthumously as Duczika ( Amsterdam: Querido, 1926 ).

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  54. Cf. Heijermans, “Erstaufführungen,” op. cit.,122.

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  55. Cf. Heijermans, “Tooneel en Maatschappij,” De Jonge Gids,II (1898/99), 90534; “Het Eerste Tooneelkundig Congres,” De Nieuwe Tijd,III (1898/99), 197-99.

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  56. J. [Koning], De Hollandsche Revue,XXIX (November 1924), 856. Van Eeden’s account of his visit, “Mijn Laatste Bezoek aan Heijermans,” De Maasbode,November 25 Av., 1924, gave rise to the false rumor that Heijermans had embraced Catholicism.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College, New York University, USA

    Seymour L. Flaxman

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  1. Seymour L. Flaxman
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© 1954 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Holland

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Flaxman, S.L. (1954). Herman Heijermans — A Biographical Sketch. In: Herman Heijermans and His Dramas. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9155-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9155-5_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-011-8441-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-9155-5

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