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. His parents moved to Apeldoorn in 1920. In 1936 he joined the
Communist Party of the Netherlands and a year later he moved to
Amsterdam 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. After the war he eventually became a member of the city council of Amsterdam. In 1971 he left the party without renouncing
marxism, 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.
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; the former also being very successful as a movie (
Ben Verbong, 1981).
From his several biographies, his book on
Spinoza received international fame, and was translated. Other biographical subjects included i.a.
Karl Marx,
R.J. Schimmelpenninck,
Haydn,
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.
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
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