The Huizinga Lecture (Dutch: ''Huizingalezing'') is an annual lecture in the Netherlands about a subject in the domains of cultural history or philosophy.
[See]
. The lecture is in honour of
Johan Huizinga
Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history.
Life
Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two y ...
, a distinguished Dutch historian (1872–1945) who worked in the first half of the 20th century. The Lecture is organized by nationwide daily general newspaper
NRC Handelsblad, the Faculty of Humanities of
Leiden University, and the ''Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde'' (Society of Dutch Literature). Attendance at the lecture was free of charge for subscribers to NRC Handelsblad, members of the Faculty of Humanities, and members of the ''Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde'' until 2010. From 2011 onwards tickets have to be bought. The lecture is held alternately by a Dutch and a non-Dutch
intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
.
The Huizinga Lecture started in 1972 and is held annually in December in the
Pieterskerk in Leiden, The Netherlands.
Lectures
This is a complete list of the Huizinga Lectures from the beginning in 1972 to the present date.
*1972:
Rudy Kousbroek
Herman Rudolf "Rudy" Kousbroek (1 November 1929 – 4 April 2010) was a Dutch poet, translator, writer and first of all essayist. He was a prominent figure in Dutch cultural life between 1950 and 2010 and one of the most outspoken atheists in the ...
– ''Ethologie en cultuurfilosofie'' (Ethology and cultural philosophy)
*1973:
Mary McCarthy – ''Can There Be a Gothic Literature?''
*1974:
Jan Pen – ''De cultuur, het geld en de mensen'' (Civilization, money and the people)
*1975:
Jean-François Revel – ''La tentation totalitaire'' (The totalitarian temptation)
*1976:
Arthur Lehning
Paul Arthur Müller-Lehning (23 October 1899, in Utrecht – 1 January 2000, in Lys-Saint-Georges) was a Dutch author, historian and anarchist.
Arthur Lehning wrote noted French translations of Mikhail Bakunin. In 1992 he won the Gouden Ganzen ...
– ''Over vrijheid en gelijkheid'' (On liberty and equality)
*1977:
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...
– ''Intellectuals and the State''
*1978:
Karel van het Reve – ''Literatuurwetenschap: het raadsel der onleesbaarheid'' (Literary studies. The enigma of unreadability)
*1979:
Golo Mann – ''1914-1980: Ein Ueberblick (1914–1980, In vogelvlucht)'' (The period 1914-1980 seen with a birds-eye view)
*1980:
Ernst Kossmann – ''Over conservatisme'' (On Conservatism)
*1981:
Stefan Themerson – ''The Chair of Decency''
*1982:
Renate Rubinstein – ''Links en rechts in de politiek en in het leven'' (Left and right in politics and life)
*1983:
Robert Darnton – ''The Meaning of Mother Goose''
*1984:
Harry Mulisch – ''Het Ene'' (The unifying principle)
*1985:
Michael Howard – ''1945: End of an Era?''
*1986:
Huib Drion – ''Eliteproblemen'' (Elite problems)
*1987:
George Steiner – ''Through a Glass Darkly''
*1988:
Peter Schat
Peter Ane Schat (5 June 1935, in Utrecht – 3 February 2003, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch composer.
Schat studied composition with Kees van Baaren at the Utrecht Conservatoire and the Royal Conservatory of The Hague from 1952 until 1958, and then ...
– ''Adem, een vergelijking'' (Breath, a metaphor)
*1989:
Susan Sontag – ''Traditions of the New or: Must We Be Modern?''
*1990:
Gerrit Komrij
Gerrit Jan Komrij (30 March 1944 – 5 July 2012) was a Dutch poet, novelist, translator, critic, polemic journalist and playwright. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s writing poetry that sharply contrasted with the free-form poetry of his ...
– ''Over de noodzaak van tuinieren'' (On the imperative of gardening)
*1991:
Joseph Brodsky – ''In Praise of Clio''
*1992:
E. de Jongh – ''Kunst en het vruchtbare misverstand'' (Art and the fruitful misunderstanding)
*1993:
Christian von Krockow – ''Schwierige Nähe. Zur Geschichte und Zukunft der Deutsch-Niederländischen Beziehungen'' (Hard neighborship: On the history and future of Dutch-German relations)
*1994:
A.Th. van Deursen – ''Huizinga en de geest der eeuw'' (Huizinga and the spirit of the age)
*1995:
Nadine Gordimer – ''Our Century''
*1996:
Henk Wesseling – ''Zoekt Prof. Huizinga eigenlijk niet zichzelf? Huizinga en de geest van de jaren dertig'' (Is prof. Huizinga as a matter of fact in search of his own self? Huizinga and the spirit of the thirties)
*1997:
Richard Holmes – ''Biography and Death''
*1998:
Louise Fresco – ''Schaduwdenkers en Lichtzoekers'' (Shadow thinkers and Light seekers)
*1999:
Jorge Semprún
Jorge Semprún Maura (; 10 December 1923 – 7 June 2011) was a Spanish writer and politician who lived in France most of his life and wrote primarily in French. From 1953 to 1962, during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, Semprún lived clande ...
– ''Einde van de eeuw, begin van een millennium'' (End of a century. Beginning of a millennium)
*2000:
Ian Buruma – ''De neo-romantiek van schrijvers in exil'' (Neoromanticism of writers in exile)
*2001:
Wendy Doniger
Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty (born November 20, 1940) is an American Indologist whose professional career has spanned five decades. A scholar of Sanskrit and Indian textual traditions, her major works include, 'The Hindus: an alternative history'; ' ...
– ''Homo Ludens and Gallows Humor about the Holocaust and Terrorism''
*2002:
Benno Barnard – ''Tegen de draad van de tijd: over de ware aard van Europa'' (Against the thread of the times. On the true nature of Europe)
*2003:
Abram de Swaan – ''Moord en de Staat'' (Murder and the State)
*2004:
A. S. Byatt – ''From Soul to Heart to Psyche to Personality''
*2005:
Elmer Schönberger – ''Het grote luisteren'' (The big listening)
*2006:
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), ''Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), ''The Old Gringo'' (1985) and ''Christopher ...
– ''The Two Traditions: La Mancha and Waterloo''
*2007:
Tijs Goldschmidt – ''Doen alsof je doet alsof'' (Pretending to be pretending)
*2008:
Christopher Bayly
Sir Christopher Alan Bayly, FBA, FRSL (18 May 1945 – 18 April 2015) was a British historian specialising in British Imperial, Indian and global history. From 1992 to 2013, he was Vere Harmsworth Professor of Imperial and Naval History at t ...
– ''The Age of Revolution in the Wider World, 1780–1830, and Its Heritage''
*2009:
Marita Mathijsen - ''Historische sensatiezucht. Over de moraal van de geschiedenis'' (Historical sensation seeking. On the moral of history.)
*2010:
Lisa Jardine - ''The Aftermath of Homo Ludens: From Huizinga to Zemon Davis and beyond''
*2011:
Simon Schama
Sir Simon Michael Schama (; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University.
He fi ...
- ''What happened to the idea of toleration?''
*2012:
Geert van Istendael – ''De parochie van Sint-Precarius'' (The parish of St. Precarius)
*2013:
Bas Heijne - ''De betovering van de wereld'' (The enchantment of the world)
*2014: Fik Meijer -''Denken over Carthago. De erfenis van Duilius''
*2015: Johan Tollebeek - ''De paarden van Waterloo''
*2016:
Ton Koopman - ''Bach en zijn zangers''
*2017: Antoine Bodar - ''Leven alsof God bestaat''
*2018: Jolande Withuis - ''Leve het Leven. Over vrijheid en de biografie''
*2019:
Marlene Dumas - ''Het Onverantwoordelijke Gebaar - of ga terug naar waar jij vandaan komt''
*2020:
Maxim Februari - ''Slechte kunst''
*2021:
David Van Reybrouck - ''De kolonisatie van de toekomst''
Sources
Homepage Huizinga Lecture Leiden University*''Alle cultuur is streven. De verzamelde Huizinga-lezingen 1972-1986'' (All culture is aspiration. The collected Huizinga Lectures 1972-1986) (with an introduction by
H.L. Wesseling), Amsterdam: Bert Bakker 1987
Notes
{{reflist
Culture in Leiden
Lecture series
Recurring events established in 1972
Entertainment events in the Netherlands
Winter events in the Netherlands