Willem Inte Onsman ( Harlingen, 28 September 1872 -

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 ...

, 26 August 1929) was a Dutch playwright and trade unionist. Born in the province of

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, Inte Onsman moved to Amsterdam after the death of his father. His mother sent him to a barbershop as apprentice. After finishing school he became a barber. As a young man he joined a theatre company as an actor, but a few years later he left the group and started his own barbershop. His socialist sympathies drew him to the Dutch social-democratic party SDAP and the barbers trade union. He became the national secretary of the union, a position he held until his death. Around 1900 Onsman started writing plays. His most successful was ''Het licht in den nacht'' (A light in the night) which dealt with the poor during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In

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it was performed more than hundred times. It was translated in German, Danish and English. Onsman also wrote an autobiographical novel, that appeared in 1929, the year of his sudden death.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onsman, Inte 1872 births 1929 deaths 20th-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights People from Harlingen, Netherlands 20th-century Dutch male writers Dutch male dramatists and playwrights