Pieter Cornelis Boutens

Pieter Cornelis Boutens
Born Pieter Cornelis Bouters
February 20, 1870
Middelburg
Died March 14, 1943
The Hague
Nationality Dutch

Pieter Cornelis Boutens[1] (February 20, 1870 – March 14, 1943) was a Dutch poet, classicist, and mystic.

Boutens was born in Middelburg. He grew up in Zeeland in a strict, Protestant middle-class environment. After finishing the Gymnasium Middelburg, he began to study classical languages in 1890 at the University of Utrecht, and graduated in 1899 on a study of the Greek comedy writer Aristophanes.

His debut as a poet was the Utrecht Student Almanac in 1891. His early work was inspired by the verses of Herman Gorter; later sources of inspiration were Plato, Sappho and the Bible. Boutens' style became based on the idea of achieving a "higher reality".

In 1894 he accepted the post of teacher of classical languages at the Noorthey boarding school for boys in Voorschoten, at the time a renowned institute for young people from aristocratic families.

After a physical collapse in 1904 and a subsequent holiday in Tyrol, he settled in The Hague, where he earned his living by private tuition and the financial support of some aristocratic friends he had from Noorthey.

He became a member of the Association of Writers (founded in 1905), and became its president in 1918. During German occupation in World War II, he also became a member of the Nazi-installed Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer.

Boutens died in The Hague.

Works

Portrait of Boutens (1914) by Willem van Konijnenburg

Awards

References

  1. ↑ His original family name was changed from Bouters to Boutens by a decision of the District Court of Middelburg, 14 March 1898, Act No. 79

External links

Dutch Wikisource has original text related to this article:


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, May 04, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.