Pieter Cornelis Boutens

Pieter Cornelis Boutens
Born	Pieter Cornelis Bouters February 20, 1870 Middelburg
Died	March 14, 1943 The Hague
Nationality	Dutch

Pieter Cornelis Boutens^[1] (February 20, 1870 – March 14, 1943) was a Dutch poet, classicist, and mystic.

Boutens was born in Middelburg. He grew up in Zeeland in a strict, Protestant middle-class environment. After finishing the Gymnasium Middelburg, he began to study classical languages in 1890 at the University of Utrecht, and graduated in 1899 on a study of the Greek comedy writer Aristophanes.

His debut as a poet was the Utrecht Student Almanac in 1891. His early work was inspired by the verses of Herman Gorter; later sources of inspiration were Plato, Sappho and the Bible. Boutens' style became based on the idea of achieving a "higher reality".

In 1894 he accepted the post of teacher of classical languages at the Noorthey boarding school for boys in Voorschoten, at the time a renowned institute for young people from aristocratic families.

After a physical collapse in 1904 and a subsequent holiday in Tyrol, he settled in The Hague, where he earned his living by private tuition and the financial support of some aristocratic friends he had from Noorthey.

He became a member of the Association of Writers (founded in 1905), and became its president in 1918. During German occupation in World War II, he also became a member of the Nazi-installed Nederlandsche Kultuurkamer.

Boutens died in The Hague.

Works

• 1898 - Verzen
• 1902 - Praeludiën
• 1904 - Naenia
• 1907 - Stemmen
• 1908 - Beatrijs
• 1908 - Spel van Platoons leven
• 1909 - Vergeten liedjes (Forgotten songs)
• 1910 - Alianora
• 1912 - Carmina
• 1916 - Lente-maan
• 1919 - Strophen uit de nalatenschap van Andries de Hoghe
• 1920 - Sonnetten
• 1921 - Liederen van Isoude
• 1922 - Zomerwolken (Summer Clouds)
• 1926 - De sonnetten van Louis Labé (The Sonnets of Louis Labe)
• 1930 - Oud-Perzische kwatrijnen
• 1931 - Bezonnen verzen
• 1932 - Honderd Hollandsche kwatrijnen
• 1932 - Strophen en andere verzen uit de nalatenschap van Andries de Hoghe
• 1942 - Tusschenspelen
• 1942 - Gegeven keur
• 1943-1954 - Verzameld werk (Collected works) seven volumes, published after his death

Awards

• 1913 - Tollens Prize for Lifetime Achievement
• 1914 - Nieuwe Gids-prijs for Carmina
• 1925 - Award for Mastery for Zomerwolken

References

1. ^ His original family name was changed from Bouters to Boutens by a decision of the District Court of Middelburg, 14 March 1898, Act No. 79

External links

• Works by Pieter Cornelis Boutens on Open Library at the Internet Archive
• Works by Pieter Cornelis Boutens at Project Gutenberg
• Poems by Boutens in the Laurens Janszoon Coster project (Dutch)
• Boutens in het Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland (Dutch)
• Koninklijke Library - P.C. Boutens collection (Dutch)
• Collection of works by Boutens at the Zeeuwse Bibliotheek (Dutch)
• Christiaan Janssens "P.C. Boutens and God's secret" (Dutch)

Persondata
Name	Boutens, Pieter Cornelis
Alternative names	Pieter Cornelis Bouters
Short description	poet and classicist
Date of birth	February 20, 1870
Place of birth	Middelburg
Date of death	March 14, 1943
Place of death	The Hague