Ir. Henri Eduard Beunke (
Middelburg, 14 September 1851 –
Amersfoort
Amersfoort () is a city and municipality in the province of Utrecht, Netherlands, about 20 km from the city of Utrecht and 40 km south east of Amsterdam. As of 1 December 2021, the municipality had a population of 158,531, making it the seco ...
, 11 February 1925)
was a Dutch writer, known for his literary regionalistic work set in his home province of
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
.
Born and raised in the provincial capital city of
Middelburg, he spent his childhood summers in
Domburg
Domburg is a seaside resort on the North Sea, on the northwest coast of Walcheren in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is a part of the municipality of Veere, and lies about 11 km northwest of the city of Middelburg, the provincial capital. ...
due to his fragile health. While there, he grew familiar with the local culture and dialect that would later form the primary inspiration for his work, most of which is set on
Walcheren
Walcheren () is a region and former island in the Dutch province of Zeeland at the mouth of the Scheldt estuary. It lies between the Eastern Scheldt in the north and the Western Scheldt in the south and is roughly the shape of a rhombus. The ...
and written in
Zeelandic
Zeelandic ( zea, Zeêuws; nl, Zeeuws; vls, Zêeuws) is a group of Friso-Franconian language varieties spoken in the southwestern parts of the Netherlands. It is currently considered a Low Franconian dialect of Dutch, but there have been mo ...
. Though writing was never his sole profession–he studied at
Delft University of Technology
Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...
and became an
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the lim ...
–he produced over fifteen
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest t ...
and
novellas
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
over a period of thirteen years, before abruptly giving up writing at the age of 35.
Works
*''Jannetje'', een Zeeuwse novelle (1873) (signed Henri)
*''De Erfenis'', een Zeeuwse novelle (1874) (signed Henri)
*''Een Vertelling'' (1875) (signed Henri)
*''Walchersche Schetsen and Vertellingen'' (De Roos van Duunland, Vertelsels van Louw, Wullem de Postriejer en z'n zeuntje, Teikeniengetjes mit de Penne) (1875) (signed Heins)
*''Uit het Walchersche Boerenleven'', een tweetal schetsen (Simon, Baas Jan) (1877) (signed Heins)
*Several novellas featured in ''Nutsalmanak'' (1879), ''De Gids'' (1879), ''Eigen Haard'' (1879) and ''Tijdspiegel'' (1880, 1882, 1883)
*''Walchersche novellen'' (1883) (signed H.E. Beunke)
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beunke, Henri Eduard
1851 births
1925 deaths
19th-century Dutch novelists
19th-century Dutch male writers
Dutch male novelists
People from Middelburg, Zeeland