Albert Verwey (May 15, 1865 – March 8, 1937) was a Dutch poet belonging to the " Movement of Eighty". As a translator, staffer, and literary historian he played an important role in the literary life of The Netherlands in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Verwey was born in the center of

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 ...

; all his life he spoke with a strong local accent. Both his father and grandfather were furniture makers. In his youth, he lost both his parents, caused by tuberculosis. Verwey began to write poetry early in life. In 1880 he translated poems by

Samuel Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( ; 21 October 177225 July 1834) was an English poet, literary critic, philosopher, and theologian who was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets with his friend William Wordswort ...

, Byron, Shelley, and Wordsworth. After finishing high school Verwey worked at a securities office. Because Verwey was very good in English, the 18-years-old Verwey was invited by the Dutch directors of the

Maxwell Land Grant The Maxwell Land Grant, also known as the Beaubien-Miranda Land Grant, was a Land grants in New Mexico and Colorado, Mexican land grant in Colfax County, New Mexico, and part of adjoining Las Animas County, Colorado. This 1841 land grant wa ...

to join them as translator to

Cimarron, New Mexico Cimarron is a Village (United States), village in Colfax County, New Mexico, Colfax County, New Mexico, United States, which sits on the eastern slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The population was 792 at the 2020 United States census, 20 ...

. His first book of poems, called

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

after the Greek goddess, was published in 1883. In 1885 he was a co-founder of the periodical

De Nieuwe Gids (from Dutch: ''The New Guide'') was a Dutch illustrated literary periodical which was published from 1885 to 1943. It played an important role in promoting the literary movement of the 1880s. Its contents covered a wide range of topics, extend ...

(“The New Guide”), which was one of the chief organs of the Dutch literary revival of the 1880s. Verwey contributed sonnets and more poems. Verwey was a close friend of

Willem Kloos Willem Johannes Theodorus Kloos (; 6 May 1859 – 31 March 1938) was a nineteenth-century Dutch poet and literary critic. He was one of the prominent figures of the Movement of Eighty and became editor in chief of '' De Nieuwe Gids'' after the e ...

, and an affair developed between the two poets, which is unprecedented in Dutch literature. They broke their relation in 1888. In 1889 he failed his Latin examinations. In the same year, his collected poems were published, with translations of work by

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

. In 1890 Verwey married and moved to Villa Nova in

Noordwijk aan Zee Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in . On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...

Frederik van Eeden Frederik Willem van Eeden (3 April 1860, Haarlem – 16 June 1932, Bussum) was a late 19th-century and early 20th-century Dutch writer and psychiatrist. He was a leading member of the Tachtigers and the Significs Group, and had top billing amo ...

became his brother-in-law. Verwey was involved in the decoration of the

Beurs van Berlage The Beurs van Berlage (literally ''Berlage's stock market'') is a building on the Damrak, in the centre of Amsterdam. It was designed as a commodity exchange by architect Hendrik Petrus Berlage and constructed between 1896 and 1903. It inf ...

, a "synthesis of the arts". For a time he was influenced by

Spinozism Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

and

Socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

through his wife. Since 1895 he was connected to the esoteric German poet

Stefan George Stefan Anton George (; 12 July 18684 December 1933) was a German symbolist poet and a translator of Dante Alighieri, William Shakespeare, Hesiod, and Charles Baudelaire. He is also known for his role as leader of the highly influential liter ...

, whose work he translated. In some of his poems, Verwey reflected on the horrors of the World War One; Verwey held Germany responsibly and refused to accept George's later ideas about a spiritual aristocracy. In 1922 his translation of

Gulliver's Travels ''Gulliver's Travels'', originally titled ''Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships'', is a 1726 prose satire by the Anglo-Irish writer and clerg ...

was published. From 1924 till 1935 Verwey was a professor at the

Rijksuniversiteit Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

. Verwey translated and promoted medieval poetry in search of passion, vision, and dreams. Although no Dutch writer has won the

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

he is among the Dutch writers to have been nominated by multiple people.Web. 30
Nov 2013. Verwey was a prolific writer; at the University of Amsterdam his carefully kept correspondence (of 20,000 letters) can be consulted. Leiden - Rapenburg 70-74 (wall poem).jpg, 'Stoa', wall poem in Leiden Gevelrelief beurs Berlage Amsterdam.jpg, Poem on the Beurs van Berlage, the Amsterdam commodity exchange Gerestaureerde_steen_Verweij_-_Noordwijk.jpg, Grave in Noordwijk Albert Verwey.JPG, Bust in Noordwijk

References

External links

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Het Geheugen van Nederland on Verwey

‘Twee open deuren op een open verandah’
{{DEFAULTSORT:Verwey, Albert 1865 births 1937 deaths Dutch male poets Translators of Dante Alighieri Writers from Amsterdam