Gerrit Achterberg - Revision history

Deleatur yhe at 06:48, 1 September 2026

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	[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg\|thumb\|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]		[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg\|thumb\|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]
	'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May ~~1905–-17~~ January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.		'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May 1905–17 January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.

	Achterberg was born in [[Nederlangbroek]] in the [[Netherlands]] as the third son of a family of eight children. He was raised as a [[Protestant]] within the [[Calvinism\|Calvinist]] tradition. His father was a [[coachman]] until the [[automobile]] gained popularity. Achterberg was a very good student, and in 1924 he embarked on a career as a teacher. In the same year, he made his literary debut together with Arie Dekkers, who had encouraged him to write, together publishing ''De Zangen van Twee Twintigers'' ([[English (language)\|English]]: ''The Songs of Two Twenty-Somethings'').		Achterberg was born in [[Nederlangbroek]] in the [[Netherlands]] as the third son of a family of eight children. He was raised as a [[Protestant]] within the [[Calvinism\|Calvinist]] tradition. His father was a [[coachman]] until the [[automobile]] gained popularity. Achterberg was a very good student, and in 1924 he embarked on a career as a teacher. In the same year, he made his literary debut together with Arie Dekkers, who had encouraged him to write, together publishing ''De Zangen van Twee Twintigers'' ([[English (language)\|English]]: ''The Songs of Two Twenty-Somethings'').

Deleatur yhe at 06:48, 1 September 2026

2026-09-01T06:48:07Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:48, 1 September 2026
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	[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg\|thumb\|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]		[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg\|thumb\|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]
	'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May ~~1905 –~~ 17 January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.		'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May 1905–-17 January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.

	Achterberg was born in [[Nederlangbroek]] in the [[Netherlands]] as the third son of a family of eight children. He was raised as a [[Protestant]] within the [[Calvinism\|Calvinist]] tradition. His father was a [[coachman]] until the [[automobile]] gained popularity. Achterberg was a very good student, and in 1924 he embarked on a career as a teacher. In the same year, he made his literary debut together with Arie Dekkers, who had encouraged him to write, together publishing ''De Zangen van Twee Twintigers'' ([[English (language)\|English]]: ''The Songs of Two Twenty-Somethings'').		Achterberg was born in [[Nederlangbroek]] in the [[Netherlands]] as the third son of a family of eight children. He was raised as a [[Protestant]] within the [[Calvinism\|Calvinist]] tradition. His father was a [[coachman]] until the [[automobile]] gained popularity. Achterberg was a very good student, and in 1924 he embarked on a career as a teacher. In the same year, he made his literary debut together with Arie Dekkers, who had encouraged him to write, together publishing ''De Zangen van Twee Twintigers'' ([[English (language)\|English]]: ''The Songs of Two Twenty-Somethings'').

Deleatur yhe at 06:46, 1 September 2026

2026-09-01T06:46:59Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:46, 1 September 2026
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	~~{{short description\|Dutch poet}}~~
	[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg\|thumb\|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]		[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg\|thumb\|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]
	'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May 1905 – 17 January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.		'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May 1905 – 17 January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.

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2026-08-30T05:48:36Z

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{{short description|Dutch poet}}
[[File:Gerrit Achterberg.jpg|thumb|Gerrit Achterberg (1936)]]
'''Gerrit Achterberg''' (20 May 1905 – 17 January 1962) was a Dutch [[poet]]. His early poetry concerned a desire to be united with a beloved in death.

Achterberg was born in [[Nederlangbroek]] in the [[Netherlands]] as the third son of a family of eight children. He was raised as a [[Protestant]] within the [[Calvinism|Calvinist]] tradition. His father was a [[coachman]] until the [[automobile]] gained popularity. Achterberg was a very good student, and in 1924 he embarked on a career as a teacher. In the same year, he made his literary debut together with Arie Dekkers, who had encouraged him to write, together publishing ''De Zangen van Twee Twintigers'' ([[English (language)|English]]: ''The Songs of Two Twenty-Somethings'').

Meanwhile, Achterberg became more withdrawn and introverted. After he was turned down by the military due to "sickness of the soul", he threatened to kill himself.

Achterberg's literary career began to take off when {{ill|Roel Houwink|nl}} presented himself as his mentor. Achterberg published his collection "Afvaart" in 1931, in which his famous theme, of a love irrevocably lost, was already strongly present. After the publication of "Afvaart", Achterberg suffered a [[mental breakdown]] and was committed to a [[psychiatric institution]] several times. His mental instability caused occasional violent outbursts.

These eruptions of violence escalated in 1937. At that time, Achterberg was living in [[Utrecht (city)|Utrecht]] and was again engaged to be married. On 15 December 1937 he tried to force himself on Bep van Es, the 16-year-old daughter of his landlady. When the latter tried to stop him, he shot and killed her, and wounded her daughter. After the shooting, he turned himself in and was sentenced to [[involuntary commitment]]. He was committed until 1943. During this commitment and the period following (between 1939 and 1953), he published 22 collections of poetry.

In 1946 he married his childhood friend Cathrien van Baak, with whom he lived in [[Leusden]] until he died from a [[heart attack]] in 1962.<ref name="House1963">{{cite book|author=Roy Temple House|title=Books Abroad|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cZwJAAAAIAAJ|year=1963|publisher=University of Oklahoma|page=163}}</ref>

In 1959, Achterberg received the [[Constantijn Huygens Prize]] for his entire body of work. His most famous work is the [[Ballad]] ''Reiziger doet Golgotha'' (''A Tourist Does Golgotha'') and the [[sonnet]] sequence ''Ballade van de gasfitter'' (1953;''Ballad of the gasfitter''). [[J. M. Coetzee|J.M. Coetzee]] included this sonnet sequence in an [[anthology]] of his English translations of Dutch poetry entitled ''Landscape with Rowers'' (2004).<ref>J.M. Coetzee, ''Landscape with Rowers'', Princeton University Press 2004, {{ISBN|978-0-691-12385-1}}.</ref> Earlier in his career, Coetzee also wrote an [[essay]] on this sonnet sequence, titled: 'Achterberg's "Ballade van de gasfitter": The Mystery of I and You' (1977),<ref>in which he discusses the shifting point of view in relation the main character of the poem. The essay is included in: J.M. Coetzee, ''Doubling the Point'', Harvard University Press 1992, p.69-90.</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Poetry}}
*[[Margriet Ehlen]] - Dutch composer who has set some of Achterberg's poetry to music

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}
*[https://archive.today/20130222141756/http://www.kb.nl/webexposities/100-hoogtepunten-van-de-koninklijke-bibliotheek/92-gerrit-achterberg Dutch Royal Library - Detailed Biography and Bibliography in Dutch]
*[http://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=acht003 File Gerrit Achterberg in the Digital Library of Dutch Literature (DBNL)] (including bibliography, primary and secondary texts)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achterberg, Gerrit}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1962 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch poets]]
[[Category:20th-century Dutch male writers]]
[[Category:Dutch male poets]]
[[Category:Dutch murderers]]
[[Category:Constantijn Huygens Prize winners]]
[[Category:P. C. Hooft Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Wijk bij Duurstede]]
[[Category:20th-century murderers]]
[[Category:Male murderers]]