Willem de Clercq

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Willem de Clercq

Willem de Clercq (born January 15, 1795 in Amsterdam , † February 4, 1844 there ) was a Dutch writer .

life and work

His most important work, first published in 1822, is the autobiography " Diary " (original title: "Dagboek"). In this he describes his life from 1805 until his "death". Here the reader is given a complete overview of the cultural and intellectual currents during the restoration period in the Netherlands .

Up to the age of 22 his great literary role model was Friedrich Schiller , whose dramas he admired at the age of sixteen and with whose words he often commented on his trip to Saint Petersburg (1816/17). This probably the most interesting part of the diary (the only one that Willem de Clercq decided to publish himself) reports sometimes mockingly, sometimes enthusiastically about the scenic, cultural and social peculiarities that a Dutchman had to notice in northern Germany and Russia after the Napoleonic Wars . His strong ties to his homeland ( love of truth has guided me, but the direction of our hearts is expressed again and again with irresistible force in what we write. ) He can criticize many a sharp criticism. He accuses the Germans of prejudice and national conceit, but in Russia he criticizes social conditions.

Quotes

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  • A love of truth has guided me, but the direction of our heart is expressed again and again with irresistible force in what we write.
  • As far as freedom of thought and principles is concerned in a state where most of the inhabitants are sold like cattle and where a gesture from the sovereign can forever move the free subject out of the circle of his family and friends, that can be clearly imagined.

literature

  • A. Pierson, W. de C. naar zijn "Dagboek", Haarlem 1871; 21888/89, 2 vol.
  • JFA Huese, Studiën: Mirabeau, W. de C., Amsterdam 1892.
  • CE te Lintum, W. de C. De Mensch en zijn strijd, Utrecht 1938.
  • Over W. de Clercq as improvisator AH vd Feen, De Nieuwe Stem 4, 1949, 41–54.
  • ABWM Kok, W. de C., een der voormannen van het réveil, The Hague 1953.
  • JC Brandt Corstius, W. de C. als literatuurhistoricus en comparatist (in Verslagen en Mededelingen of the Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie, 1961, pp. 481–504).
  • MH Schenkeveld, Willem de Clercq en de literatuur, (prfs. Amsterdam), Groningen, 1962. Oudere literatuur over De Clercq in dit werk van MH Schenkeveld, 268-72.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Clercq, Willem de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch writer
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1795
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1844
Place of death Amsterdam