Wil van Gogh

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Willemina Jacoba van Gogh

Wilhelmina Jacoba Wil van Gogh (born March 16, 1862 in Zundert , † May 17, 1941 in Ermelo ) was a Dutch nurse and early feminist . She became known because she was the youngest sister of the artist Vincent van Gogh and the art dealer Theo van Gogh .

Life

Wilhelmina Jacoba van Gogh was born to Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus. She had three brothers, Vincent , Theo and Cor, and two sisters, Elisabeth and Anna.

During the first part of her life, van Gogh served her family and others by caring for the sick. After the death of her brothers in 1890 and 1891, she accepted a modest job in a hospital. There she was involved in a committee for the organization of the “National Exhibition of Women's Labor” ( Nationale Tentoonstelling van Vrouwenarbeid ) in 1898, with which she was successful and thus 20,000 Dutch guilders could be donated to found the Dutch National Office for Women's Labor.

Although there is no reliable evidence, it was reported that van Gogh was interned on December 4, 1902 and later transferred to Haus Veldwijk , a psychiatric institution in Ermelo . The diagnosis of dementia praecox , on which this measure was based, was considered a fatal disease at the time. Later it was noted in the institution's files: “The condition of this longstanding patient has not changed significantly. She is very withdrawn, seldom speaks and hardly answers questions. She sits in her chair all day long, cannot occupy herself with anything, takes no notice of her surroundings. For years she has refused any food and has to be constantly artificially fed. "

Van Gogh lived in Ermelo for almost four decades before she died there on May 17, 1941.

Whether or not she was insane is hard to prove today. Renate Berger claimed that Wil van Gogh suffered the same fate as many “sisters of famous men”.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anonymous (with the initials "HHH" and "WFdCH"): Van Gogh, 's-Gravenhage , Nederland's Patriciaat 50, 1964, p. 182
  2. ^ Biographical & historical context: The immediate family circle. In: Vincent van Gogh: The Letters. Van Gogh Museum , accessed August 18, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Natalie Angier: New Explanation Given For van Gogh's Agonies. New York Times , December 21, 1991, accessed August 18, 2020 .
  4. ^ Yuri Visser: Willemina Jacoba van Gogh. Het Kontakt (on vggallery.com), April 2003, accessed on August 18, 2020 (Dutch).
  5. ↑ Renate Berger: Willemina Jacoba van Gogh (1862–1941): "You are very brave, dear sister" . In: Sisters of Famous Men. Twelve biographical portraits . Luise F. Pusch (Ed.), Insel, Frankfurt am Main, 1985, pp. 453-485.
personal data
SURNAME Gogh, Wil van
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gogh, Wilhelmina Jacoba van; Gogh, Willemien Jacoba van
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch feminist
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Zundert
DATE OF DEATH May 17, 1941
Place of death Ermelo