Hélène "Hella" Serafia Haasse (2 February 1918 – 29 September 2011) was a Dutch writer, often referred to as the "Grande Dame" of Dutch literature, and whose novel '' Oeroeg'' (1948) was a staple for generations of Dutch schoolchildren. Her internationally acclaimed magnum opus is ''Heren van de Thee'', translated to ''The Tea Lords''. In 1988 Haasse was chosen to interview the Dutch Queen for her 50th birthday after which celebrated Dutch author Adriaan van Dis called Haasse "the Queen among authors". Haasse has the first Dutch digital online museum dedicated to the life and work of an author. The museum was opened in 2008 on her 90th birthday. Haasse has an

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

named after her.

Early life and studies

Hélène Serafia Haasse was born on 2 February 1918 in Batavia (now

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

), the capital of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...

(

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

). She was the daughter of civil servant and author Willem Hendrik Haasse (1889–1955) and concert pianist Katharina Diehm Winzenhöhler (1893–1983).Geboorte Hella
, Hella Haasse Museum. Retrieved on 26 January 2014. She had a brother Wim who was born in 1921. The Haasse family was not very religious.
, Hella Haasse Museum. Retrieved on 26 January 2014. Before Haasse's first birthday, the family moved from Batavia to Buitenzorg (

Bogor Bogor ( su, , nl, Buitenzorg) is a city in the West Java province, Indonesia. Located around south of the national capital of Jakarta, Bogor is the 6th largest city in the Jakarta metropolitan area and the 14th overall nationwide. In 1920, the family moved to

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 ...

in the Netherlands, where her father got a temporary job at the city hall. In 1922, the family moved back to the Indies to Soerabaja (

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...

). Here Haasse went to kindergarten and later to a Catholic primary school, because this was the nearest school. When her mother became ill and went to a sanatorium in

Davos , neighboring_municipalities= Arosa, Bergün/Bravuogn, Klosters-Serneus, Langwies, S-chanf, Susch , twintowns = } Davos (, ; or ; rm, ; archaic it, Tavate) is an Alpine resort town and a municipality in the Prättigau/Davos R ...

, Haasse was first sent to her maternal grandparents in Heemstede and then her paternal grandparents in Baarn, and she later stayed at a boarding school in Baarn. In 1928, her mother was recovered and all family members moved back to the Indies to Bandoeng (

Bandung Bandung ( su, ᮘᮔ᮪ᮓᮥᮀ, Bandung, ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of West Java. It has a population of 2,452,943 within its city limits according to the official estimates as at mid 2021, making it the fourth most ...

). In 1930, the Haasse family moved again to Buitenzorg, and a year later again to Batavia. Here she went to the secondary school Bataviaas Lyceum, where Haasse became an active member of the literary club Elcee. In 1935, the family visited the Netherlands, after which Haasse became aware of differences between the Dutch and East Indian society. Haasse graduated from the Lyceum in 1938. Haasse then moved to the Netherlands to study Dutch. She quickly abandoned this plan, and studied Scandinavian language and literature at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, she joined a student theater group and met her future husband Jan van Lelyveld, who invited her to become an editor for the satirical magazine ''

Propria Cures {{italic title ''Propria Cures'' (Latin for "Mind your own business") is a Dutch satirical student newspaper, published biweekly in Amsterdam. Established in 1890, it is one of the oldest student newspapers in the Netherlands. It is principally c ...

'' in 1940.

Dutch East Indies literature

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Theeplukster Preanger TMnr 10011957

An important segment of her literary work consists of

Dutch Indies literature Dutch Indies literature or Dutch East Indies literature (Dutch: ''Indische letteren'' or ''Nederlands Indische literatuur'', Indonesia: ''Sastra Hindia Belanda'') is the Dutch language literature of colonial and post-colonial Indonesia from the ...

. Her debut ''Oeroeg'' (1948), is set in the

, where Haasse was born and lived for most of the first 20 years of her life. Even more autobiographical texts and books about her life in the East Indies, includes books such as The East Indies continued to play an important part in her work: ''Krassen op een rots'' (1970) and her last novel ''Sleuteloog'' (2002), which has the same theme as ''Oeroeg'': is a friendship between a Dutch colonial and an Indonesian child possible and can they really understand each other? This ''Oeroeg'' was well received and often reprinted, but did experience some controversy due to the critical reception by the older author Tjalie Robinson. The

Indo (Eurasian) The Indo people ( nl, Indische Nederlanders, or Indos) are Eurasian (mixed ancestry), Eurasian people living in or connected with Indonesia. In its narrowest sense, the term refers to people in the former Dutch East Indies who held European ...

Tjalie Robinson pointed out why he did not find the characters in the story credible. Moreover, as Tjalie Robinson himself was still living in the Dutch East Indies at that time, hoping for and working towards fraternization between the Dutch and Indonesians his sharp criticism was directed against what he considered the defeatist nature of the book. The movie ''Oeroeg'' based on the book premiered in 1993. Her internationally acclaimed ''Heren van de Thee'' was translated as ''The Tea Lords'' in 2010. It is a colonial historical novel set in the Dutch East Indies of the 19th and 20th century, based on family archives of the heirs and relations of the tea plantation owners featuring in the book.

Awards

Her great commercial success and critical acclaim is reflected in the numerous prizes she has been awarded over the years. She has won prizes for both her first novel in 1948 as well as her last novel in 2003. Prestigious awards for her entire oeuvre up to that time include the Constantijn Huygens Prize in 1981 and the

P. C. Hooft Award The P.C. Hooft Award (in Dutch: P.C. Hooft-prijs), inaugurated in 1948, is a Dutch-language literary lifetime-achievement award named after 17th-century Dutch poet and playwright Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft. The award is made annually. Background E ...

in 1984. Various other prizes include the ‘’Annie Romein Prize’’and the ‘’Dirk Martens Prize’’. She has also won the ‘’Prize of the Public of the NS’’ twice and is the only author who has written the prestigious annual "

Boekenweek In the Netherlands, the Boekenweek (; English: Book Week) is an annual "week" of ten days dedicated to Dutch literature. It has been held in March annually since 1932. Each Boekenweek has a theme. The beginning of the Boekenweek is marked by the ' ...

geschenk" thrice, in 1948, 1959 and 1994 respectively.

International recognition

Haasse lived in France for many years (1981–1990), and much of her work has been translated into French. The '‘Académie Française’' awarded Haasse the ''Diplôme de médaille Argent'' in 1984. The next year she delivered a presentation on colonial literature at the University of Dakar. She was awarded the ''Officier dans l’Ordre de la

Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

'' in 2000. Haasse received an honorary literary doctorate from the University of Utrecht in 1988 and from the Belgian University of Leuven in 1995. In 1987 she had already been given an honorary membership of the Belgian Royal Literary Academy (Belgische Koninklijke Academie voor Nederlandse Taal- en Letterkunde (KANTL)) in

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent (Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, a ...

. The Chilean Ministry of Education (‘El Ministerio de education de Chile') awarded her a prize for her “universal contribution to culture” in 1996. In 1989 the city of Boston awarded her the 'Boston Certificate of Recognition', for her book ''

In a Dark Wood Wandering ''In a Dark Wood Wandering'' (original title ''Het woud der verwachting'') is a 1949 Dutch novel by Hella S. Haasse. It was translated from the Dutch into English in 1989 by Lewis C. Kaplan and revised and edited by Academy Chicago. Synopsis ...

'': “In recognition and appreciation of your outstanding contributions to the City of Boston and its residents.” In 1992 Haasse attended the opening of the IKAPI 'International Book Fair' in

. It was the last time she would visit her birthplace,

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, and the year her

masterpiece ''Heren van de Thee'' was published.

Gallery

File:HellaHaasse1970.jpg, Haasse (1970) File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Spelevaren op het kleurenmeer Telaga Warna TMnr 10018388.jpg, Lake ''Telaga Hideung'' on Java, close to where Hella Haasse grew up as a child and which prominently features in her debut book ''Oeroeg''. COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Java-thee op plantage Tjikadjang TMnr 60017426.jpg, Tea plantation, Java, Dutch East Indies, 1910–1940.

Bibliography

* '' Oeroeg'' - 1948 (translated into English as ''The Black Lake'', 2013) * '' Het woud der verwachting'' – 1949 (translated into English as ''In a dark wood wandering'', 1989) * ''De verborgen bron'' – ''The hidden source'' (1950) * '' De scharlaken stad'' – 1952 (translated into English as ''The scarlet city. A novel of 16th-century Italy'', 1952) * ''De ingewijden'' – ''The incrowd'' (1957) * ''Cider voor arme mensen'' – ''Cider for poor people'' (1960) * ''Een nieuwer testament'' – ''A newer testament'' (1966, translated as ''Threshold of fire. A novel of fifth century Rome'', 1993) * ''De tuinen van Bomarzo'' – ''The gardens of Bomarzo'' (1968) * ''Huurders en onderhuurders'' – ''Tenants and Undertenants'' (1971) * ''De Meester van de Neerdaling'' – ''The Master of Descent'' (1973) * ''Een gevaarlijke verhouding of Daal-en-Bergse brieven'' – ''A dangerous affair or Daal-en-Bergish letters'' (1976) * ''Mevrouw Bentinck'' – ''Mrs. Bentinck'' (1978, 1982 and 1990) * ''Charlotte Sophie Bentinck'' (1978 and 1996) * ''De wegen der verbeelding'' – ''The roads of imagination'' (1983) * ''Een vreemdelinge in Den Haag'' – 1984 (translated into English as A stranger in The Hague. The letters of Queen Sophie of the Netherlands to Lady Malet, 1842–1877, 1989) * ''Berichten van het Blauwe Huis'' – ''Messages from the blue house'' (1986) * ''Schaduwbeeld of Het geheim van Appeltern'' (1989) – ''Shadow picture or the Secret of Appeltern'' * ''Heren van de thee'' – ''The Lords of Tea'' (1992) (translated into English by Ina Rilke as ''The Tea Lords'', 2010. ) * ''Een handvol achtergrond, 'Parang Sawat' ''- ''A handful of background, 'Parang Sawat' ''(1993, translated into English as ''Forever a stranger and other stories'', including ''Oeroeg'', 1996) * ''Transit'' (1994) * 1995 – ''Overeenkomstig en onvergelijkbaar'' * 1996 – ''Toen ik schoolging'' * 1996 – ''Ogenblikken in Valois'' (essays) * 1996 – ''Uitgesproken opgeschreven. Essays over achttiende-eeuwse vrouwen, een bosgezicht, verlichte geesten, vorstenlot, satire, de pers en Vestdijks avondrood'' * 1997 – ''Zwanen schieten'' * 2000 – ''Lezen achter de letters'' (essays) * 2000 – ''Fenrir: een lang weekend in de Ardennen'' * 2002 – ''Sleuteloog'', (won Dutch prize: ''NS-Publieksprijs 2003'') * 2003 – ''Het dieptelood van de herinnering'' (autobiographical) * 2004 – ''Oeroeg – een begin'' (

facsimile A facsimile (from Latin ''fac simile'', "to make alike") is a copy or reproduction of an old book, manuscript, map, Old master print, art print, or other item of historical value that is as true to the original source as possible. It differs from ...

-edition on the occasion of Dutch prize: ''Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren'') * 2005 – ''Over en weer'' (stories) * 2006 – ''Het tuinhuis'' (stories) * 2006 – ''Een kruik uit Arelate'' (available as

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

Download o
Radioboek
/ref>) * 2007 – ''Sterrenjacht'' (1950 ''Het Parool'' publication) * 2007 – ''De handboog der verbeelding'' (Interviews) * 2008 – ''Uitzicht''

References

External links

A virtual museum
dedicated to Hella Haasse in 2007 by her publisher,

Querido Emanuel Querido (6 August 1871 – 23 July 1943) was a successful Dutch publisher as the founder and owner of N.V. Em. Querido Uitgeversmaatschappij, which published Dutch titles, and of , which published titles of German writers in exile from N ...

Haasse file
at ''

de Volkskrant ''de Volkskrant'' (; ''The People's Paper'') is a Dutch daily morning newspaper. Founded in 1919, it has a nationwide circulation of about 250,000. Formerly a leading centre-left Catholic broadsheet, ''de Volkskrant'' today is a medium-sized c ...

''
The Guardian and Observer Online Book Review
Evans, Julian ''The Tea Lords by Hella S Haasse – review'' (The Guardian, Saturday 4 December 2010) {{DEFAULTSORT:Haasse, Hella S. 1918 births 2011 deaths Dutch women novelists People from Batavia, Dutch East Indies Constantijn Huygens Prize winners P. C. Hooft Award winners Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren winners 20th-century Dutch novelists 21st-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch women writers 21st-century Dutch women writers Dutch people of the Dutch East Indies