Joan Leonardszoon Blasius (13 April 1639 – 6 December 1672) was a Dutch poet, playwright, translator and lawyer. Born near Cadzand in Oostvliet, a village now lost to the North Sea, he was the younger brother of the famous doctor

Gerard Blasius Gerard "Gerrit" Leendertszoon Blasius (1627–1682) was a Dutch physician and anatomist. He was born in Amsterdam and was the eldest son of Leonard Blasius (died 1644), who had worked as an architect in Copenhagen. Gerard started his studies th ...

. Blasius in 1670 became director of the Amsterdam Municipal Theatre, the

Amsterdamse Schouwburg 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 ...

, but because of this powerful position as well as the romantic nature of his works for the theatre, he incurred the enmity of the tradition oriented theatre company "Nil volentibus arduum". When he put on Plautus's ''

Menaechmi ''Menaechmi'', a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' or ''The Two Menaechmuses''. The ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a se ...

'' in translation, that theatre company promptly came out with a translation of its own. Their attacks, however, were fiercely answered by Blasius' friends, especially

Thomases Asselyn Susan P. Thomases (born 1944) is a New York-based attorney. She served as personal counsel and an informal adviser to Hillary Clinton during the presidency of Bill Clinton. She was a prominent witness during the Senate Whitewater Hearings in 19 ...

. Blasius' work was in high repute amongst his contemporaries, but today critical opinion no longer holds it in high esteem. Blasius died in Amsterdam. His friends contributed to an ''

Album amicorum The ''album amicorum'' ('album of friends', friendship book) was an early form of the poetry book and the modern friendship book. It emerged during the reformation period, during which it was popular to collect autographs from noted reformers. ...

'' for him, which included work by such prominent authors as Joost van der Vondel, Constantijn Huygens,

Joannes Antonides van der Goes Joannes or John ( la, Iohannes; died 425) was western Roman emperor from 423 to 425. On the death of the Emperor Honorius (emperor), Honorius (15 August 423), Theodosius II, the remaining ruler of the House of Theodosius, hesitated in announci ...

, Jan Vos and Jacob Westerbaen.author page for Joan Blasius
in the DBNL

Poetry

*''Geslachtboom der Goden en Godinnen, waarachter bijgevoegde Mengeldichten'' (1661) *
Fidamants Kusjes, Minnewijsen en Bijrijmen aan Celestijne
' (1663) *''Heilige Gedachten over het avondmaal onses Heeren (naar 't Latijn van R. Kenchenius) met noch andere Bijbelstof'' (1665) n adaptation of Kenchenius' poem in Latin

Drama

*''De Edelmoedige Vijanden'' (a comedy after

Scarron Paul Scarron (c. 1 July 1610 in Paris – 6 October 1660 in Paris) (a.k.a. Monsieur Scarron) was a French poet, dramatist, and novelist, born in Paris. Though his precise birth date is unknown, he was baptized on 4 July 1610. Scarron was the fi ...

) (1659) *''Lysander en Kaliste'' (first part, 1660; reissued 1663; second part, 1663) *''Dubbel en Enkkel'' (a comedy after Plautus) (1670) *''Het Huwelijk van Oroondate en Statira'' (after the French) (1670) *''De Malle Wedding'' (a farce after Boisrobert) (1671).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasius, Joan Leonardszoon 1639 births 1672 deaths 17th-century Dutch dramatists and playwrights 17th-century Dutch lawyers 17th-century Dutch poets Dutch male poets People from Sluis Dutch male dramatists and playwrights