Leon de Winter

Leon de Winter (February 26, 1954) is a Dutch writer and columnist.

Early life

Leon de Winter was born on February 24, 1954 in Den Bosch, the capital of the Dutch province Noord-Brabant, in the south of The Netherlands.

He grew up in an orthodox Jewish family and attended the gymnasium in Den Bosch. After his graduation he attended the academy of Bavaria Film Studios in Munich and the Netherlands Film Academy in Amsterdam. However, the Film Academy was much criticised by De Winter and he left the Film Academy in 1978 without a degree.

Writing career

After leaving the Film Academy, De Winter made some television series, like "Junkieverdriet" and "De (ver)wording van de jonge Dürer". The latter, which was also rewritten into a novel, is the story of an unemployed young boy who does not know how to handle life, and who goes slowly but inevitably insane.

Until 1982 De Winter also wrote reviews for the weekly magazine "Vrij Nederland".

His first successful novel was "Zoeken naar Eileen W" (1981). A film version of this was made by Rudolf van den Berg. In 1981 De Winter also wrote "Place de la Bastille".

In 1986 the novel "Kaplan" was published. The protagonist of this novel is a writer who is searching for the truth about birth, love and death.

In 1990 the novel "Hoffman’s honger" was published. "Hoffman’s honger" is a literary thriller set in Prague.

"Hoffman’s honger" was followed in 1991 by the novel "Supertex". In 1992 the novel "De ruimte van Sokolov" was published. Just like "Hoffman’s honger", "De ruimte van Sokolov" is a literary thriller, this time set in Israel.

In 1995 De Winter wrote "Zionoco", the story of a rabbi, who has lost his faith, and is searching for his Jewish roots.

De Winter's latest novels are "De hemel van Hollywood", which was published in 1997, "God’s Gym", which was published in
2002, and "Het recht op terugkeer", published in 2008.

Most of these works feature protagonists searching—in particular, for a Jewish identity. These attempts to bring order out of chaos are a result of discontent with seemingly empty and aimless lives.

De Winter is married to Jessica Durlacher, who is also a writer. They have two children, Moos and Moon, and are currently living in Bloemendaal and Los Angeles.

De Winter became more involved in political writings in newspapers and magazines , and appearances on television, possibly the most recognizable of these being his utterances of support for the invasion of Iraq.

On December 26, 2007 de Winter announced a stop to his political writings on weblogs and magazines and he's considering a permanent move with his family to California. [ Elsevier: [http://www.elsevier.nl/opinie/weblog/asp/artnr/184872/weblogid/59/index.html "Lieve mensen, ik ben uitgeput, ik stop ermee"] ]

Criticism

De Winter was criticized early on by Theo van Gogh for placing so much emphasis on Jewish themes. Van Gogh argued that De Winter was exploiting his heritage.

External links

* [http://www.leondewinter.nl www.leondewinter.nl] (Official website of Leon de Winter)
* [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,568154,00.html "Der Spiegel" interview with de Winter on the occasion of the publication of his novel "The Right of Return" ]

Notes