Jan ten Brink (15 June 1834 – 18 July 1901) was a Dutch writer. He was born in

Appingedam Appingedam (; gos, n Daam) is a city and former municipality in the northeastern Netherlands. Although there is no certainty as to the exact age of Appingedam, historical research demonstrates that the place in which the city would eventually b ...

, Netherlands. He studied in

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, went to Batavia for a few years, and in 1862 he became a teacher at a secondary school in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

. In 1884 he became professor in

Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, ...

at the Leiden University. Ten Brink was a conservative writer. Conrad Busken Huet and, especially, the 'movement of 80', writers and poets who were far more progressive than Ten Brink, attacked him on several occasions in

literary magazine A literary magazine is a periodical devoted to literature in a broad sense. Literary magazines usually publish short stories, poetry, and essays, along with literary criticism Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evalu ...

s such as ''

De Gids ''De Gids'' (meaning ''The Guide'' in English) is the oldest Dutch literary periodical still published today. It was founded in 1837 by Everhardus Johannes Potgieter and Christianus Robidé van der Aa. Long regarded as the most prestigious literar ...

'' and ''

De Nieuwe Gids ''De Nieuwe Gids'' (meaning ''The New Guide'' in English) 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 ...

''. He died, aged 67, in

Works

In total, Jan ten Brink wrote over 20 novels, including: * ''Gerbrand Adriaensen Brederoó'' (1859) * ''Dirck Volkertsen Coornhert en zijne Wellevenskunst'' (1860) * ''Oost-Indische dames en heeren'' (1866) * ''De schoonzoon van Mevrouw de Roggeveen'' (1871–1873) * ''Eene schitterende carrière'' (1879) * ''De familie Muller Belmonte'' (1880) He also wrote several books on the history of Dutch literature: * ''Geschiedenis der Noord-Nederlandsche letteren in de XIXe eeuw'' (1888–1889) * ''Geschiedenis der Nederlandsche letterkunde'' (1897) Jan ten Brink was known for his admiration of the novels of

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

. He was one of the first Dutch writers to write about naturalism, and the first one to introduce Zola and his novels in the Netherlands, a.o. by writing a book on Émile Zola. * ''Émile Zola'' (1879)

External links

* * *
a Dutch overview of the primary and secondary works of Jan ten Brink
1834 births 1901 deaths Leiden University alumni Leiden University faculty Dutch literary historians People from Appingedam {{Netherlands-writer-stub