Hieronymus van Alphen (8 August 1746 in Gouda – 2 April 1803 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

), a

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

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and The Hague, is especially remembered as a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, particularly for his

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

for children under the title ''Kleine gedigten voor kinderen'' (Utrecht 1778-1782). Van Alphen was appointed as

Treasurer-General In the Netherlands the Treasurer-General (Dutch language, Dutch: ''thesaurier-generaal'') is the head of the General Treasury, part of the Ministry of Finance (Netherlands), Ministry of Finance. The holder of the office has a deputy and is a member ...

of the

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in June 1793 but, as an Orangist, was relieved of his position as a result of the

Batavian Revolution The Batavian Revolution () was a time of political, social and cultural turmoil at the end of the 18th century that marked the end of the Dutch Republic and saw the proclamation of the Batavian Republic. The initial period, from about 1780 to ...

in 1795. Van Alphen’s children’s poems express a modern vision of children for his time. As these booklets were a great success, they were reprinted dozens of times and also translated into

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, West Frisian and in the

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. Composers as Bartholomeus Rulofs, Ernst Christian Graf and

Christian Friedrich Ruppe A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words ''Christ'' and ''Chr ...

put them to music. The affably poet Hieronymus van Alphen considers children as pure and innocent creatures, to whom virtues as

obedience Obedience, in human behavior, is a form of "social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure". Obedience is generally distinguished from compliance, which some authors define as behavior infl ...

, esteem for their parents and for God, as well as

modesty Modesty, sometimes known as demureness, is a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others. The word ''modesty'' comes from the Latin word ''wikt:modestus, modestus'' which means 'keeping with ...

could be taught. Van Alphen was of the opinion that children should be able to learn playfully. Buijnsters, ''Hiëronymus van Alphen'', passim

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Alpen, Hieronymus van 1746 births 1803 deaths Dutch children's writers Dutch male poets Dutch children's poets People from Gouda, South Holland Treasurers-General