Theunis Uilke (Theun) de Vries (26 April 1907 – 21 January 2005), was a Dutch writer and poet.

Life

De Vries was born in the Frisian town of

Feanwâlden Feanwâlden ( nl, Veenwouden) is a village in the Dantumadiel municipality of Friesland, the Netherlands. It had a population of around 3,430 in 2014. Together with the village of Feanwâldsterwâl, a former hamlet of Feanwâlden, it has a village ...

. His parents moved to Apeldoorn in 1920. In 1936 he joined the

Communist Party of the Netherlands The Communist Party of the Netherlands ( nl, Communistische Partij Nederland, , CPN) was a Dutch communist party. The party was founded in 1909 as the Social-Democratic Party (SDP) and merged with the Pacifist Socialist Party, the Political Party ...

and a year later he moved to

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 ...

to pursue a career in journalism. He became editor of the communist newspaper '' De Tribune'' and '' De Vrije Katheder''. During the occupation of the Netherlands by the Nazi forces he was arrested and imprisoned in

Kamp Amersfoort Kamp Amersfoort ( nl, Kamp Amersfoort, german: Durchgangslager Amersfoort) was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The official name was "Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort", P.D.A. or Amersfoort Police ...

. After the war he eventually became a member of the city council of Amsterdam. In 1971 he left the party without renouncing

marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, which he continued to uphold until the end of his life. He died in Amsterdam at the age of 97 after having suffered from several bouts of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

Works

De Vries wrote poetry and many novels, both in Dutch and Frisian. Among his most acclaimed novels are ''Het meisje met het rode haar'' (''

The Girl with the Red Hair ''The Girl with the Red Hair'' ( nl, Het meisje met het rode haar) is a 1981 cinema of the Netherlands, Dutch drama film directed by Ben Verbong. It is based on the biography of resistance fighter Hannie Schaft. It was entered into the 32nd Berl ...

'') and the trilogy ''Februari'' (''February''), both novels about the Dutch resistance in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

; the former also being very successful as a movie (

Ben Verbong Ben Verbong (born 2 July 1949) is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. He has directed 18 films since 1981. His debut film ''The Girl with the Red Hair'' was entered into the 32nd Berlin International Film Festival. Selected filmography * '' ...

, 1981). From his several biographies, his book on

Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

received international fame, and was translated. Other biographical subjects included i.a.

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

, R.J. Schimmelpenninck,

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

, Bosch,

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inclu ...

. He also wrote a comprehensive and academic history of the Christian heretical movements, ''Ketters'' (Heretics). 1907 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Dutch novelists 20th-century Dutch male writers Frisian writers Dutch male novelists Dutch resistance members People from Dantumadiel P. C. Hooft Award winners {{Netherlands-writer-stub