Julius "Jules" de Corte (29 March 1924 – 16 February 1996) was probably one of the most famous blind singer-songwriters from the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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.
Early life
Julius de Corte was born on 29 March 1924 in Deurne to Peer de Corte and Anna van Eijk. His father had socialist ideals and in 1923 led a strike, the failure of which had a significant impact on the already poor family. At fourteen months, Jules developed a
middle ear
The middle ear is the portion of the ear medial to the eardrum, and distal to the oval window of the cochlea (of the inner ear).
The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which transfer the vibrations of the eardrum into waves in the ...
infection, which eventually led to him becoming blind. He would spend the rest of his childhood in two Catholic institutions for the blind in
Grave
A grave is a location where a dead body (typically that of a human, although sometimes that of an animal) is buried or interred after a funeral. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as grav ...
, which provided him with a good education but no affection. In the last year of the
Second World War
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 opposi ...
, allied soldiers were accommodated in the institute and De Corte sang songs for them and played the piano.
Music career
In 1945 De Corte became a professional musician. Initially he played at dance schools and parties and so on, but soon afterwards he began to make radio and stage appearances. Over the years, he collaborated with many other famous performers, including
Louis van Dijk
Louis van Dijk, also spelled Louis van Dyke (27 November 1941 – 12 April 2020), was a beloved Dutch pianist.
Born as Arnold Ludwig van Dijk in Amsterdam, he studied solo piano at the Amsterdam Conservatorium. Louis van Dijk became well-known f ...
,
Albert Mol
Albert Mol (3 January 1917 – 9 March 2004) was a Dutch author, actor and television personality.
Life and career
Mol was born in Amsterdam, and was one of the first openly gay actors in the Netherlands. He married Lucy Bor in 1948. The c ...
and Rita Reys.
Although he did other work too, De Corte is best known for his songs, such as '. It is estimated he wrote over 3,000 songs, some poetic and sad, others funny.
De Corte died on 16 February 1996 in
Eindhoven
Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,
*
Edison Award
The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed b ...
(1962), for the album ''Liedjes die eigenlijk niet mogen''
* Visser-Neerlandia Prize (1967), for his complete works
*
Golden Harp
The Golden Harp ''(Dutch: Gouden Harp)'' is awarded annually to Dutch musicians for their entire oeuvre. Golden Harps have been awarded 42 times. 149 different persons or (musical) groups have had the honour of receiving the award which is conside ...
(1969)
* Louis Davids Prize (1975), for the song ''Het land van de toekomst''