François Haverschmidt. François Haverschmidt, also written as HaverSchmidt (14 February 1835 in

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

– 19 January 1894 in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

), was a Dutch minister and writer, who wrote prose under his own name but remains best known for the poetry published under the pen name of Piet Paaltjens.

Life and career

Haverschmidt studied

Calvinist Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Protestantism, Continenta ...

theology at

Leiden University Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...

, graduating in 1858. He successively became minister in

Foudgum Foudgum is a small village in Noardeast-Fryslân in the province of Friesland, Netherlands. It had a population of around 72 as of January 2017. Before 2019, the village was part of the Dongeradeel municipality. The village was first mentioned in ...

Den Helder Den Helder () is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula. It is home to the country's main naval base. From here the Royal TESO fe ...

and

. During his student days, he had some of his poetry published in student magazines under the pen name of Piet Paaltjens, around whom a playful but elaborate mystification was created as Haverschmidt kept his poetry separate from his "serious" prose and sermons, not unlike

Nicolaas Beets Nicolaas Beets (13 September 1814 – 13 March 1903) was a Dutch theologian, writer and poet. He published also under the pseudonym Hildebrand. Life Nicolaas Beets was born in Haarlem, the son of a pharmacist. From 1833 till 1839 he studie ...

. He became a prime suspect for being the

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anonym ...

author of the

Oera Linda Book The Oera Linda Book is a manuscript written in imitated Old Frisian, purporting to cover historical, mythological, and religious themes of remote antiquity, from 2194 BCE to 803 CE. Among academics in Germanic philology, the document is consider ...

, the inferred reason being a

practical joke A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...

(a parody of the Bible to lampoon

fundamentalist Christian Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British an ...

s).''Het Oera Linda-boek – Aanklacht tegen christelijk fundamentalisme''
/ref> However, many of his contemporaries believed the book to be authentic. This would have prevented Haverschmidt and his collaborators (if they were indeed the authors of the supposedly millennia-old text) from unmasking their hoax, which consequently completely backfired. Haverschmidt became progressively more depressed, especially after his wife's death in 1891, and ultimately committed suicide in 1894.

Bibliography

As Piet Paaltjens

* ''

Snikken en grimlachjes Snikken en grimlachjes is the best-known work of Piet Paaltjens, a fictional poet created by Dutch poet and Minister (Christianity), minister François Haverschmidt (1835–1894). Originally, it contained a collection of 24 poems. It appealed to a ...

: poëzie uit den studententijd'' ("Sobs and Bitter Grins: Student-Days Poetry", 1867)

As François Haverschmidt

* ''Familie en kennissen'' ("Relatives and Acquaintances",

short stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

, 1876) * ''Uit geest en gemoed'' ("From Mind and Heart",

sermon A sermon is a religious discourse or oration by a preacher, usually a member of clergy. Sermons address a scriptural, theological, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law, or behavior within both past and present context ...

s, 1894) * ''Uit den studententijd'' in

Alexander Johan Berman Ds. Alexander Johan Berman (17 September 1828 in Zierikzee–14 February 1886 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch Reformed minister of Watergang, an author and, in his early retirement, an archivist. As an author, he wrote mostly literary criticism, and, ...

Landjuweel Landjuweel (lit. "jewel of the land") is the highest award for an amateur theatrical troupe to have received in Belgium. It has its historical origin in the contests among the Chamber of rhetoric of different cities of the Low Countries. Histor ...

As both

* ''Nagelaten snikken van Piet Paaltjens: poëzie en proza, tekeningen en curiosa uit de nalatenschap van François HaverSchmidt'' ("Posthumous Sobs of Piet Paaltjens: Poetry and Prose, Drawings and Curiosities from François HaverSchmidt's Estate", early poetry and prose and Paaltjens "outtakes", 1961)

English translation

A section of ''Snikken en grimlachjes'' has been translated into English by Jacob Lowland as ''Everlastings (1850–1852)'' (Amsterdam: Aarts, 1982)

External links

References

1835 births 1894 deaths People from Leeuwarden Dutch male poets Suicides by hanging in the Netherlands 19th-century Dutch poets 19th-century Dutch male writers 1890s suicides {{Netherlands-writer-stub