Jan de Zanger

Jan F. de Zanger (born July 4, 1932 in Schiedam , † January 14, 1991 in Hejlsminde, Denmark ) was a Dutch author , mainly of books for young people .

Life

Jan de Zanger spoke fluent Danish , as his parents sent him to a foster family in Denmark for three months in 1945 in order to be “nursed” there. From then on he spent almost all of his holidays in Denmark during his school days and afterwards , and later also in Sweden and Norway . After completing his school education in the Netherlands, he then moved back to Scandinavia . However, he returned to the Netherlands to study.

In 1957 he became a Dutch language teacher in a school community in Lochem . After twenty years he left active school service in 1977 out of disappointment with the school system , which, in his opinion, forced students to submit to the self-interest and arbitrariness of teachers.

From 1977 to 1989 de Zanger worked at the Leerplan Ontwikkeling Foundation (curriculum development) in Enschede . From 1989 he lived as a freelance writer in Zwiep . Jan de Zanger's literary interest lay not only in writing books, but also in translations , especially of Danish , but also of Swedish , Norwegian , Finnish and German texts. He has received numerous awards for his books and translations.

His first own work, a volume of poetry entitled Bij mijzelf te rade , was published in 1962. This was followed by niet alleen / maar ook (1967) and Aai de baas daarom (1970), also poems.

His first book for young people was Ben is dood ("Ben is dead", published in German under the title: Who was Ben?). This book received the “Gouden Harington” award for best youth book of 1981.

Works

• 1962: Bij mijzelf te rade
• 1967: niet alleen / maar ook
• 1970: Aai de baas daarom
• 1981: Ben is dood . ISBN 90-258-4931-8 , ( Who was Ben . 1984, ISBN 3-89106-005-X ).
• 1983: Gekke Bril en gekke Rooie . ISBN 90-258-4932-6 .
• 1983: Ik ben naar Vladivostok . ISBN 90-258-4933-4 , ( I'm going to Vladivostok, or I'm not like you . 1986, ISBN 3-499-20427-4 ).
• 1984: Voor een halve zak drop . ISBN 90-258-4935-0 , ( For half a bag of drops . 1985, ISBN 3-89106-017-3 ).
• 1985: De opschepper . ISBN 90-258-4938-5 .
• 1986: De knikker . ISBN 90-258-4934-2 , ( Die Glasmurmel . 1990, ISBN 3-8181-6010-4 ).
• 1986: Desnoods met geweld . ISBN 90-258-4939-3 , ( Then with violence . 1987, ISBN 3-89106-043-2 ).
• 1987: De twee-bloed . ISBN 90-258-4940-7 .
• 1988: Dit been is korter . ISBN 90-258-4941-5 , ( The leg is shorter . 1989, ISBN 3-89106-091-2 ).
• 1988: Poepoe . ISBN 90-258-4942-3 , ( Pupu and the yellow letters . 1989, ISBN 3-89106-073-4 ).
• 1989: De mensen kijken altijd zo . ISBN 90-258-4810-9 , ( People always look like that . 1990, ISBN 3-89106-115-3 ).
• 1990: Hadden we er maar wat van gezegd! . ISBN 90-258-4813-3 , ( Why didn't we say anything? 1991, ISBN 3-89106-137-4 ).

Film adaptations

• 1993: Then with violence (English: Violence: The Last Resort ) with Jasmin Tabatabai , Jürgen Vogel , Thomas Heinze , Regula Grauwiller , David Steffen and others. a. Director: Rainer Kaufmann . Script: Klaus Richter and Jan de Zanger. First broadcast on German television ( arte ): August 9, 1993.

Prices

• 1981: “De Gouden Harington” (best book for young people), by the children's jury in Velsen for Ben is dood
• 1982: "Legpenning" of the Province of Limburg for his book De fietser
• 1988: Gustav Heinemann Peace Prize for books for children and young people for Then just with violence ( Desnoods met geweld )
• 1989: Tip of the Dutch children's jury 10 to 12 years for Poepoe
• 1991: Tip of the Dutch children's jury 13 to 16 years for Hadden we er maar wat van gezegd!

Web links

• Jan de Zanger author information (Dutch)