Gerrit Kalff

Gerrit Kalff

Gerrit Kalff (born June 30, 1856 in Zwolle , † August 31, 1923 in Sassnitz ) was a Dutch Netherlandist .

Life

Gerrit was the son of the merchant Gerrit Jurian Kalff (born May 16, 1818 in Zwolle; † December 16, 1879 in Warnsveld) and his wife Katharina Margaretha Muller (born June 28, 1824 in Amsterdam; † April 22, 1904 in Haarlem). In 1868 he had attended the secondary school in Zwolle, in 1871 the grammar school in Zwolle and in 1874 the Athenaeum Illustre Amsterdam . On May 7, 1875 he enrolled at the University of Leiden to study literature. Here Willem Jozef Jonckbloet , Matthias de Vries and Jan ten Brink became his formative teachers. After completing his military service in 1876/77, he passed his candidate exam in 1879 and taught in the same year as a teacher at the grammar school in Haarlem . In 1881 he switched to teaching at the commercial school in Amsterdam , received his doctorate in philosophy on November 27, 1883 in Leiden with the thesis Het lied in de middeleeuwen (German: The song in the Middle Ages ) and became a teacher at the Barlaus Gymnasium in Amsterdam in 1886.

On January 10, 1896, he received an appointment as professor of Dutch language and literature at the University of Utrecht , which task he began on March 18 of the same year with the introductory speech Taalstudie en Literatuurstudie (German: language studies and literature studies ). On October 16, 1901, he was appointed to the professorship for Dutch literature at the University of Leiden, which task he took on on January 15, 1902 with the speech Over de wording van literaire kunstwerken (German: About the creation of literary works of art ). Here he became rector of the Alma Mater in the academy year 1917/18 , for which he gave the rector's speech Onze verhouding tot het verleden (German: Our relationships with the past ) on February 8, 1918 .

Kalff, who did well for Dutch literature, became a member of the Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen (German: Society of the Arts and Sciences for the Public Benefit ) in 1892 , became a member and later chairman of the Maatschappij der Nederlandsche Letterkunde (German: Society for Dutch Literature ) in Leiden, 1911 member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and in the same year honorary member of the Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde . In 1899 he was a co-founder of the "Volksweerbaarheid" association , and he acted as its chairman. In 1912 he became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion , was editor of the magazine de Grids from 1897 to 1901 and from 1914 to 1923 he headed the editorial department of the magazine Varsh des Tijds (German: Questions of Time ). Many of his essays appeared in the literary journals and journals of his time. He died on a trip to Sweden and was buried in Noordwijk .

family

Kalff married on July 28, 1887 in Heiloo with Johanna Jacoba Elisabeth Momma (born September 19, 1861 in Amsterdam; † October 12, 1946 in Bussum), the daughter of Barent Johannes Momma (born November 28, 1811 in Amsterdam; † 28 November 1871 ibid.) And the Baroness Elisabeth Jacoba de Petersen (* May 8, 1819 in Amsterdam, † October 18, 1885 in Amersfoort). Four children were born in the marriage. We know of these:

• Robbert Kalff (* and † July 22, 1888 in Heiloo)
• Gerrit Kalff (born September 1, 1889 in Amsterdam; † August 1, 1955 ibid) married on December 29, 1916 to Margaret de Vries Robbe (* 1894 in Amsterdam; † 1976)
• Elisabeth Jacoba Kalff (born November 4, 1890 in Amsterdam, † January 3, 1964 in Velp)
• Catharina Margaretha Kalff (born May 27, 1899 in Utrecht, † August 18, 1926 in Noordwijk)

Works (selection)

• Het Lied in de Middeleeuwen. Leiden 1883
• Middelnederlandsche epic fragments. Groningen 1885
• Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche letterkunde in de zestiende eeuw. Leiden 1889-1906; 7th vol.
• Het onderwijs in de moedertaal. Amsterdam 1893
• Literatuur en tooneel te Amsterdam in de zeventiende eeuw. Haarlem 1895
• Vodels levels. Haarlem 1896, 1902
• De letterkunde en het tooneel te Amsterdam in de 17e eeuw. The Hague 1900
• Jacob Cats. Haarlem 1901
• Studiën over Nederlandsche Dichters der zeventiende eeuw. Haarlem 1901, 1915
• Poet van den Ouden Tijd. Amsterdam 1904
• Inleiding tot de study of literary history. Haarlem 1914, 1923
• Van Zeevarende Luyden en Zee-Poëten. The Hague 1915
• De sage van den vlegen Hollander; after treatment, oorsprong en zin onderzocht. With plates en vignettes van Oswald Wenckebach. Zutphen 1923
• Western European letter studies. Groningen 1923/24, 2nd volume (2nd volume with CV and bibliography)

literature

• LH Maas: Pro Patria. Works, leven en streven van Gerrit Kalff 1856-1923. Lost, Hilversum, 1998, ISBN 9065504303 .
• H. van der Hoeven: Kalff, Gerrit (1856-1923). In: Biographical Woordenboek van Nederland. The Hague, 1989, vol. 3 ( online )

Web links

Commons : Gerrit Kalff  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Kalff in the Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae
• Kalff at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences
• Kalff at the digital library of Dutch literature
• Kalff in the professorial catalog of the University of Leiden