Alfred Kossmann (31 January 1922 – 27 June 1998) was a Dutch poet and prose writer. Kossmann and his brother Ernst Kossmann, a distinguished Dutch historian, were

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

Biography

Born 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 ...

, Kossmann was the son of the erudite librarian F. H. Kossmann. He had two brothers. His twin brother Ernst became a historian; his younger brother Bernhard played the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

professionally. The Kossmann family was partly of

Jewish descent ''Zera Yisrael'' (), also known as ''Zera Kadosh'' (), is a legal category in ''Halakha'' that denotes the blood descendants of Jews who, for one reason or another, are not legally Jewish according to religious criteria. This is usually due to a ...

and they came from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

before they settled in the Netherlands. Kossmann attended the Gymnasium Erasmianum in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

but never finished it. Subsequently, he worked for several years in bookshops and

publishing Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...

houses. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he was arrested. He had to work for two-and-a-half years in Germany, along with his twin brother Ernst. In 1950, Kossmann published a novel, ''De nederlaag'' (The defeat), that was based on their experiences during the war. After the war, he worked mainly in publishing houses. As an experienced traveller, he wrote some

travel literature The genre of travel literature or travelogue encompasses outdoor literature, guide books, nature writing, and travel memoirs. History Early examples of travel literature include the '' Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (generally considered a ...

. In 1972, Kossmann had a car accident that left him disabled. His novel ''Laatst ging ik spelevaren'' (Of late I went out boating) was based on these experiences. After the accident, he lived in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

for several years. He died 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 ...

. Kossmann's work is characterized by a sense of irony and detachment.

Bibliography

Poetry

*Het vuurwerk (1946) *De bosheks (1951) *Apologie der varkens (1954) *De veldtocht en andere gedichten (1959) *Rotterdam (1969) *Dagboek uit en thuis (1981)

Prose

*De nederlaag (1950) *De moord op Arend Zwigt (1951) *De linkerhand (1955) *De hondenplaag (1956) *De bekering (1957) *De misdaad (1962) *De smaak van groene kaas (1965) *Reisverhaal (1966) *Proeve van vaderland (1967) *De vrouwenhaters (1968) *De architect (1969) *De wind en de lichten der schepen (1970) *Ga weg, ga weg, zei de vogel (1971) *Waarover wil je dat ik schrijf (columns) (1972) *Laatst ging ik spelevaren (1973) *O roos, je bent ziek (1979) *Geur der droefenis (1980) *De vrijheid, de leegte, de dood (1981) *Hoogmoed en dronkenschap (1981) *Een gouden beker (1982) *Drempel van ouderdom (1983) *In alle onschuld (1984) *Rampspoed. Novelle van de leraar (1985) *Slecht zicht (1986) *Duurzame gewoonten of Uit het leven van een romanfiguur (1987) *Een verjaardag (1989) *Familieroman (1990) *Huldigingen (1995) *De mannen waaruit ik besta (columns) (1999)

Awards

* 1951 - Lucy B. en C.W. van der Hoogtprijs (''De nederlaag'') * 1960 - Prijs van de Stichting Kunstenaarsverzet 1942-1945 (collected short stories) * 1964 - ANWB-prijs (''Reislust'') * 1965 - Vijverbergprijs (''De smaak van groene kaas'') * 1972 - Marianne Philips-prijs (collected works, especially ''Ga weg, ga weg zei de vogel'') * 1980 -

Constantijn Huygensprijs The Constantijn Huygens Prize (Dutch: ''Constantijn Huygens-prijs'') is a Dutch literary award.Libris Prize The Libris Literature Award or Libris Prize (Dutch: Libris Literatuur Prijs) is a prize for novels originally written in Dutch. Established in 1993, it is awarded annually since 1994 by Libris, an association of independent Dutch booksellers, a ...

(''Huldigingen'')

External links

Alfred Kossmann in the Digital Library of Dutch Literature (DBNL)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kossmann, Alfred 1922 births 1998 deaths Dutch male poets Libris Prize winners Dutch twins Writers from Leiden Constantijn Huygens Prize winners 20th-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch poets 20th-century Dutch male writers Dutch male novelists Dutch expatriates in Greece Burials at Zorgvlied Cemetery