Rudolf Vleeskruijer (also spelled as Vleeskruyer) (

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 ...

, 18 January 1916 -

Zeist Zeist () is the Capital city, capital and largest town of the Zeist (municipality), municipality of Zeist. The town is located in the Utrecht (province), Utrecht province of the Netherlands, east of the city of Utrecht. History The town of " ...

, 2 June 1966) was a Dutch professor in the

English language English is a West Germanic language that developed in early medieval England and has since become a English as a lingua franca, global lingua franca. The namesake of the language is the Angles (tribe), Angles, one of the Germanic peoples th ...

and

Old English literature Old English literature refers to poetry (alliterative verse) and prose written in Old English in early medieval England, from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a period often termed Anglo-Saxon England. The 7th- ...

at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public university, public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of ...

. Vleeskruijer spent a part of his youth (1924 to 1929) in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. From August 1945 to May 1946, he was an interpreter for the Allied Forces as a conscript NCO in the Dutch Army. He studied English at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

and received his bachelor's degree on 17 July 1941. After obtaining his master's degree on 29 June 1948, he took up a study in 1949 at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

( St. Catherine College). Vleeskruijer was granted the title ''B.lett.Oxon'' (Bachelor of Letters Oxoniensis) at this university by

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

in 1951. In 1958, he founded the ''English Institute'' of the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

. Vleeskruijer was married and had three children. He died at age 50 in Zeist. In 1966, he was commemorated in an article in ''English Studies, A Journal of English language and Literature'' Anglo-Saxonists from the 16th through the 20th Century
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Bibliography

* ''A. Campbell's Views on Inguaeonic'' Neophilologus xxxii, pp. 173–183 (1948) * ''Old English Vocabulary Research'' (lecture) Acts of the 22nd Congress of Philologists of the Netherlands (1952), pp. 46 ''sqq.'' * ''Recent Work at Leeds'' in ''Neophilologus'' xxxvii (1953), pp. 174–175 * ''The Life of St. Chad, an Old English Homily edited with introduction, notes, illustrative texts and glossary'', North-Holland, Amsterdam (1953) * ''

Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer ( ; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He ...

and the Modern Reader'' (lecture) Acts of the 24th Congress of Philologists of the Netherlands (1956), pp. 57 ''sqq.'' * ''Anglistik en English Philology - Rede uitgesproken bij de aanvaarding van het ambt van gewoon hoogleraar in de Engelse taal en de oudere Engelse letterkunde aan de Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht op 6 october 1958'', Noord-Hollandsche uitgeversmaatschappij, Amsterdam (''inaugural oration'', 1958)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vleeskruijer, Rudolf 1916 births 1966 deaths Dutch philologists Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam 20th-century Dutch linguists 20th-century philologists Dutch expatriates in the United Kingdom