Anna Maria van Gogh-Kaulbach (31 December 1869 – 28 January 1960) was a Dutch writer and translator. She published a number of works under the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

s Wilhelmina Reynbach, Erna, Mac Peter and Wata.

Biography

The daughter of Frans Ludwig Eduard Kaulbach, a physician, and Helena Maria Cornelia van Reijn, she was born Anna Maria Kaulbachin

Velsen Velsen () is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. It is located on both sides of the North Sea Canal. On the north side of the North Sea Canal there is a major steel plant, Tata Steel IJmuiden, formerly known as ...

. Her parents had six other children who all died shortly after birth. When she was two, her mother became blind. She attended a primary girls' school in

Beverwijk Beverwijk () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. The town is located about northwest of Amsterdam in the Randstad metropolitan area, north of the North Sea Canal very close to the North Sea coast. A ...

and a girls'

Hogere Burgerschool The ''Hogere Burgerschool'' (''HBS'') (Dutch: Higher Civic School) was a secondary school type that existed between 1863 and 1974 in the Netherlands and the Dutch Empire. These schools, with a five- or sometimes six-year program, continued in 1 ...

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

. In 1892, she published her first story in '' Elsevier's Geïllustreerd Maandschrift''. In the same year, she met her future husband Willem Jacob van Gogh, a bulb grower who was a cousin of

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. In 1894, the couple joined the Social Democratic Workers' Party. In the same year, she published her first novel ''Albert Overberg'' under the pseudonym Wilhelmina Reynbach'; she published a second novel ''Otto van Lansveldt'' under the same name in the following year. Besides novels and stories, she also published plays, children's stories and travelogues. In 1899, she married Wlllem van Gogh; the couple had two daughters and three sons. They lived in Lisse and then

Sassenheim Sassenheim () is a town and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of 6.62 km2 (of which 0.23 km2 water) and had a population of 14,906 in 2005. Since ...

. After 1906, they lived in Haarlem. From 1919 to 1924, they lived in

Arnhem Arnhem ( ; ; Central Dutch dialects, Ernems: ''Èrnem'') is a Cities of the Netherlands, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands, near the German border. It is the capita ...

; in 1924, they moved to

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 ...

. Her husband died in 1934 and she spent two years in the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

in 1937. Van Gogh-Kaulbach translated works by a number of authors, including

Honoré de Balzac Honoré de Balzac ( , more commonly ; ; born Honoré Balzac; 20 May 1799 – 18 August 1850) was a French novelist and playwright. The novel sequence ''La Comédie humaine'', which presents a panorama of post-Napoleonic French life, is ...

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

Fyodor Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influent ...

and Neel Doff. She also wrote and translated

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s. From 1910 to 1915, she was editor of ''Weekblad voor de jeugd'', from 1915 to 1918, she was editor of ''Scheurkalender Morgengroeten'' and, from 1927 to 1931, she was editor for ''Letterkundige Kalender''. She also wrote theatre reviews for ''

Haarlems Dagblad The ''Haarlems Dagblad'' is a regional newspaper in Haarlem, Netherlands. It claims to be the oldest newspaper in the world still in printed circulation, although it was forced to merge with another Haarlem-based newspaper during the German occ ...

'' and contributed articles to the ''Dames-Kroniek''. She was a supporter of women's

suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

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 ...

. Her later works take on the themes of motherhood and family life. She was honorary president of the Dutch women's organization . A

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, she was a member of the Nederlandse Vredesraad. She died in Haarlem at the age of 90.

Selected works

* ''Rika'', novel (1905) * ''Eigen haard'', play (1910) * ''De sterkste'', novel (1913) * ''Opgang. De roman van een vrouwenleven'', novel (1914) * ''Binnen de muren'', two volumes (1915) * ''Jet-Lie'', novel (1917) * ''Lenie ter Heuvel'', youth literature, 3 volumes (1920-1922) * ''Het brandende hart'', novel (1928) * ''Zomerland'', novel (1953)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gogh-Kaulbach, Anna van 1869 births 1960 deaths Dutch women novelists Dutch women short story writers 20th-century Dutch short story writers Dutch women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Dutch translators Dutch suffragists Dutch pacifists 20th-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers