Abraham Jacob van der Aa (7 December 1792 – 21 March 1857) was a Dutch writer best known for his dictionaries, one of notable people and the other of notable places in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. He was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

in 1792. His father was a lawyer. From the ages of 6 to 12, he visited the dayschool in Amstelveen. After that, he was sent to the boarding school of J.E. van Iterson in Aarlanderveen but only stayed there for a year. After a short stay at the Latin school in Leiden, where his parents lived at that time, he was sent to the Seminarium in

Lingen Lingen (), officially Lingen (Ems), is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. In 2024, its population was 59,896 with 2,262 people who had registered the city as their secondary residence. Lingen, specifically "Lingen (Ems)" is located on the river Ems ...

, Germany to study the "dead languages". After his return in 1810, he went to medical school in

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

, but had to leave after his father's death. He later did his mandatory military service until 1817. At that point, he tried to open a bookshop in

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, but this was not a success so he became a teacher in the Dutch language. After 1839, he moved to Gorinchem, where he wrote several reference works, including a

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or wikt:directory, directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a co ...

and a

biographical dictionary A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people o ...

, ''Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden''.Biographisch Woordenboek (Van der Aa)
– online version hosted by Inghist The ''Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek der Nederlanden'' (''Geographical dictionary of the Netherlands'') was a 14-volume gazetteer, published between 1839 and 1851. It was written with the help of many regional historians and other geographers. It covers the

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and the former Dutch colonies. Until his death in 1857 from undisclosed causes at age 64 in

Gorinchem Gorinchem ( ), pronunciation respelling, also spelled Gorkum, is a city and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. It had a population of in . The munici ...

he continued working on his "biographic dictionary".

Works

* ''Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek van Noord-Brabant'' (Breda, 1832); * ''Herinneringen uit het gebied der geschiedenis'' (Amsterdam 1835); * ''Nieuwe herinneringen'' (Amsterdam 1837); * ''Geschied- en aardrijkskundige beschrijving van het koninkrijk der Nederlanden en het groothertogdom Luxemburg'' (Gorinchem 1841); * ''Nieuw biographisch, anthologisch en critisch woordenboek van Nederlandsche dichters'' (Amsterdam 1844-1846); * ''Geschiedkundig beschrijving van Breda'' (Gorinchem 1845); * ''Nederlandsch Oost-Indië'' (Amsterdam en Breda 1846-'57), 4 delen; * ''Beschrijving van den Krimpener en den Loopikerwaard'', Schoonh. 1847; * ''Nederland, handboekje voor reizigers'', Amsterdam 1849; * ''Lotgevallen van Willem Heenvliet'', Amsterdam 1851; * ''Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden'', Haarlem 1852-'78; * ''Beknopt Aardrijkskundig Woordenboek der Nederlanden'', Gorinchem 1851-'54; * ''Bloemlezing uit an Effen'sSpectator'', in Klassiek en Letterkundig Pantheon 1855, 2 delen; * ''Parelen uit de lettervruchten van Nederl. dichteressen'', Amsterdam 1856; * ''Ons Vaderland en zijne bewoners'', Amsterdam 1855-'57.

References

External links

List of online volumes of the ''Geographical Dictionary of the Netherlands 1839-1851''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aa, Abraham Jacob van der 1792 births 1857 deaths 19th-century Dutch writers 19th-century Dutch male writers Dutch lexicographers Dutch literary historians Writers from Amsterdam 19th-century lexicographers