Maarten Maartens

Maarten Maartens

Maarten Maartens , actually Jozua Marius Willem van der Poorten Schwartz , (born August 15, 1858 in Amsterdam , † August 3, 1915 in Zeist ) was a Dutch writer.

Life

Maarten Maartens was the pseudonym of Jozua Marius Willem van der Poorten Schwartz . He was the son of the preacher and missionary August Ferdinand Carl Schwartz (1817-1870). The family converted and his father made it his business to convince other Jews of Christianity as well. In 1864 the family therefore settled in London .

Maartens completed his school days in England and wrote his works almost exclusively in English. When his father died in 1870, his mother took him back to Amsterdam and later settled in Bonn . Maartens also finished school there in 1877 at the age of 19. He returned to the Netherlands, the University of Utrecht and was graduated there in 1877 with a successful promotion for Dr. phil. to lock. At this time Jacobus Anthonie Fruin , one of his lecturers, fell ill and Maartens was asked to replace him. When Fruin died in 1884, Maartens was under discussion as a successor, but was rejected by the university.

In 1883 Maartens married his cousin Anna van Vollenhoven (1862–1924) in Amsterdam and had a daughter with her: Ada (1888–1944). With Anna's dowry , the couple could afford not to pursue any profession for the rest of their lives. Since both were of a very sick nature, they began to visit spas again and again and traveled across half of Europe. Maartens also made some trips alone with his butler.

A year after his marriage, Maartens bought a huge property near Doorn and had a small castle built there. In 1903 the family was able to move in and named it Zonheuvel (sun hill ).

In 1889 Maartens was by a royal decree from Wilhelm III. allowed to add the name “van der Poorten” to his family name “Schwartz”. Since Maartens was already generally known by his pseudonym at that time, this was probably just an administrative act with which Maartens wanted his great-grandparents' name to live on.

As a declared pacifist , Maartens was shocked by the outbreak of the First World War . Maarten Maartens died 14 days before his 57th birthday on August 3, 1915 in Doorn, where he found his final resting place.

reception

Maarten's oeuvre includes novels, short stories, plays and poems. His first literary attempts come from his school days in England; this is also the explanation that he published almost all of his works in English. He made his debut as a writer with a small poetry anthology, which his friend Reginald Stanley Faber discussed favorably, but advised him to orientate himself more towards prose.

His first novel, the detective novel "The black Box Murder", was very successful and was among others. a. praised by George Bernard Shaw . As an honorary member of the English Author 'Club , he made the acquaintance of many colleagues; u. a. his friends included JM Barrie , George Bentley , Edmund Gosse and George Meredith .

A celebrated writer, Maartens was invited by Andrew Carnegie in 1907 to give a.o. a. to speak at the New York Peace Congress on April 12 in New York . At the end of his trip, Maartens was invited by President Theodore Roosevelt to the White House in Washington, DC .

Many of his works were translated into German by Eva Schumann .

Honors

• 1891 honorary member of the English Authors Club
• 1905 honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen

Works (selection)

• A comedy of crime .
  • German: The comedy of a crime. Three novels . Reclam, Leipzig 1947.
• Mother .
  • German: The mother. A novella . Reclam, Leipzig 1928.
• Dorothea. A story of the pure in heart .
  • German: Dorothea. Story of a pure heart . Publishing house Ahn, Bonn 1908.
• Mountains high .
  • German: From a low altitude. A story from high circles . Publishing house Ahn, Bonn 1906.
• An old maid's love .
  • German: The love of an old girl . Publishing house Ahn, Bonn 1897.
• The sin of Joost Avelingh .
  • German: Joost Avelinghs guilt. A Dutch story . Publishing house Ahn, Bonn 1896.
• Lis Doris .
  • German: Lis Doris. The story of a painter . Henschel Verlag, Berlin 1957.
• The black box murder .
  • German: The black suitcase. Story of a murder told by whoever found the killer . Engelhorn, Stuttgart 1892.
• New religion .
  • German: The new religion. A modern novel . Publishing house Ahn, Bonn 1908.
• Healers .
  • German: healing hands. Narration . Publishing house Ahn, Bonn 1911.
• God's fool .
  • German: God's fool. A story from Koopstad . Publishing house Die Brücke, Berlin 1925.

literature

• Hendrik Breuls: Author in double exile. The literary appreciation of Maarten Maartens . University of Regensburg 1985.
• Willem van Maanen: Maarten Maartens. Poet and Novellist . Noordhoff, Groningen 1927 (also dissertation, University of Amsterdam 1927)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Author's death certificate
2. ^ Scottish Missionary Church