Helena Snoek (22 September 1764 – 3 December 1807) was a Dutch actress. She also played a popular tragedy role in the historical play, '' Gijsbrecht van Aemstel'' by

Joost van den Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

Biography

Helena Snoek was the eldest of five children in the Catholic family of skipper Joannes Snoek (d. 1780), from

Emden Emden () is an independent city and seaport in Lower Saxony in the northwest of Germany, on the river Ems. It is the main city of the region of East Frisia and, in 2011, had a total population of 51,528. History The exact founding date of E ...

, and Helena de Ruijter (d. 1808), shopkeeper who was born in

Heusden Heusden () is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Doeveren, and Oudheusden, merged with ...

. She was the sister of the actors

Andries Snoek Andries Snoek (14 November 1766 - 3 January 1829) was a Dutch actor and director. He was born in Rotterdam, the son of Jan Snoek and Helena de Ruyter, and the brother of actresses Anna Maria and Helena Snoek. Despite his low birth, he became one ...

and

Anna Maria Snoek Anna Maria Snoek (1779 – 1849) was a Dutch stage actress, ballet dancer and opera singer.Anna de Haas, Snoek, Anna Maria, in: Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland. URL: http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/bwn1880-2000/DVN/lemmata/data/SnoekAnnaMar ...

. In 1787, Helena Snoek began her career with the traveling troupe of W. van Dinsen Jr. Andries Snoek who first joined at the

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Theater later brought together a troupe of musical professionals including Helena Snoek and Anna Maria Snoek. In 1789, Helena Snoek married singer Pieter Snoeck (1769–1848) who mainly played comedic roles then joined the troupe at the Rotterdam Theater. Between 1792 and 1793, Helena Snoek served as the director of the Rotterdam Theater along with Andries Snoek. They owned the troupe under the name of Andries Snoek from 1793 to 1795. At the beginning of 1793, the

Theater was closed due to the French invasion. The musical troupe was subsequently moved to the Southern Netherlands through

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

and

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

. In March 1794, the troupe further reached to Brussels, and at the end of that year returned to Bruges. In February 1795, the troupe eventually reached to Rotterdam. Helena Snoek was also associated with the theater hall Utile et Amusant in Amsterdam. She then had a long career with the

Stadsschouwburg The Stadsschouwburg (; Dutch: ''Municipal Theatre'') of Amsterdam is the name of a theatre building at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The building is in the neo-Renaissance style dating back to 1894, and is the former home of the Na ...

Amsterdam between 1795 and 1807. She died on 3 December 1807.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Snoek, Helena 1764 births 1807 deaths Dutch stage actresses 19th-century Dutch actresses 18th-century Dutch actresses 18th-century Dutch opera singers 18th-century Dutch women 18th-century women opera singers 19th-century Dutch opera singers