Harry Mulisch
Encyclopedia
Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch (29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch
author. He wrote more than 80 novel
s, plays
, essay
s, poems and philosophical reflections. These have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Along with Willem Frederik Hermans
and Gerard Reve
, Mulisch is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch postwar literature. His novel The Assault
became a 1986 film
, which won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. A 2007 poll revealed his 1992 novel The Discovery of Heaven
as the "Best Dutch Book Ever". He was regularly thought of as a possible future Nobel laureate.
Mulisch was associated with accessories such as his spectacles and pipe.
and lived in Amsterdam
from 1958, following the death of his father in 1957, until the end of his own life. Mulisch's father was from Austria-Hungary
and emigrated to the Netherlands after the First World War. During the German occupation in World War II
his father worked for a German bank, which also dealt with confiscated Jewish assets. His mother, Alice Schwarz, was Jewish. Mulisch and his mother escaped transportation to a concentration camp thanks to Mulisch's father's collaboration with the Nazis, but his maternal grandmother died in a gas chamber. Mulisch was mostly raised by his parents' housemaid, Frieda Falk. Mulisch said of himself, he did not just write about World War II, he was WWII.
described his death as "a loss for Dutch literature and the Netherlands". Culture minister Halbe Zijlstra
bemoaned the demise of the "Big Three" as Gerard Reve
and Willem Frederik Hermans
had already died. Marlise Simons of The New York Times
said his "gift for writing with clarity about moral and philosophical themes made him an enormously influential figure in the Netherlands and earned him recognition abroad". The L Magazines Mark Ashe quoted the American editions of his novels by referring to him as "Holland's Greatest Author" and "Holland's most important postwar writer".
(1986), which was based on his book The Assault
(1982). It received an Oscar
and a Golden Globe for best foreign movie and has been translated into more than twenty languages.
His novel The Discovery of Heaven
(1992) is considered his masterpiece, it was voted “the best Dutch-language book ever” by Dutch readers in a 2007 newspaper poll. “It is the book that shaped our generation; it made us love, even obsess, with reading,” said Peter-Paul Spanjaard, 32, a lawyer in Amsterdam at the time of Mulisch's death. It was filmed in 2001 as The Discovery of Heaven
by Jeroen Krabbé
, starring Stephen Fry
.
Among the many awards he received for individual works and his total body of work, the most important is the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
(Prize of Dutch Literature, a lifetime achievement award) in 1995.
), Het stenen bruidsbed, and Siegfried, the latter an attempt to examine why so many Germans responded to Hitler's charisma
Mulisch often incorporated ancient legends or myths in his writings, drawing on Greek mythology
(e.g. in De Elementen), Jewish mysticism (in De ontdekking van de Hemel
and De Procedure), well known urban legends and politics (Mulisch was politically left-wing, once signing a book "dedicated in admiration" to Fidel Castro
). Mulisch's works are widely read.
In 1984 he delivered the Huizinga Lecture
in Leiden, The Netherlands, under the title: Het Ene (the unifying principle).
)
Obituaries
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
author. He wrote more than 80 novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
s, poems and philosophical reflections. These have been translated into more than 20 languages.
Along with Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem Frederik Hermans was a Dutch author. He is considered one of the three most important authors in the Netherlands in the postwar period, along with Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve...
and Gerard Reve
Gerard Reve
Gerard Kornelis van het Reve was a Dutch writer. He adopted a shortened version of his name, Gerard Reve in 1973, and that is how he is known today. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature...
, Mulisch is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch postwar literature. His novel The Assault
The Assault
The Assault is a 1982 novel by Harry Mulisch about the Second World War. It deals with the consequences for the lone survivor of a Nazi retaliation on an innocent family after a collaborator named Fake Ploeg is found killed outside their home.The novel takes readers on the journey through the main...
became a 1986 film
The Assault (film)
The Assault is a 1986 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Harry Mulisch. The film was directed and produced by Fons Rademakers...
, which won both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award. A 2007 poll revealed his 1992 novel The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven is a 1992 novel by Dutch author Harry Mulisch. It describes the intense friendship between two men and the mystical journey of another to return to Heaven the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments....
as the "Best Dutch Book Ever". He was regularly thought of as a possible future Nobel laureate.
Mulisch was associated with accessories such as his spectacles and pipe.
Life
Mulisch was born in HaarlemHaarlem
Haarlem is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland, the northern half of Holland, which at one time was the most powerful of the seven provinces of the Dutch Republic...
and lived in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
from 1958, following the death of his father in 1957, until the end of his own life. Mulisch's father was from Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
and emigrated to the Netherlands after the First World War. During the German occupation in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
his father worked for a German bank, which also dealt with confiscated Jewish assets. His mother, Alice Schwarz, was Jewish. Mulisch and his mother escaped transportation to a concentration camp thanks to Mulisch's father's collaboration with the Nazis, but his maternal grandmother died in a gas chamber. Mulisch was mostly raised by his parents' housemaid, Frieda Falk. Mulisch said of himself, he did not just write about World War II, he was WWII.
Death
Mulisch died in 2010. His death occurred at his Amsterdam home and his family were with him at the time. Dutch prime minister Mark RutteMark Rutte
Mark Rutte is a Dutch politician who has been Prime Minister of the Netherlands since 14 October 2010, as well as Minister of General Affairs in the Rutte cabinet...
described his death as "a loss for Dutch literature and the Netherlands". Culture minister Halbe Zijlstra
Halbe Zijlstra
Halbe Zijlstra is a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy . He is the State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science in the Cabinet Rutte serving since October 14, 2010. He previously served as a Member of the House of Representatives from November 30, 2006 until...
bemoaned the demise of the "Big Three" as Gerard Reve
Gerard Reve
Gerard Kornelis van het Reve was a Dutch writer. He adopted a shortened version of his name, Gerard Reve in 1973, and that is how he is known today. Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature...
and Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem Frederik Hermans
Willem Frederik Hermans was a Dutch author. He is considered one of the three most important authors in the Netherlands in the postwar period, along with Harry Mulisch and Gerard Reve...
had already died. Marlise Simons of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
said his "gift for writing with clarity about moral and philosophical themes made him an enormously influential figure in the Netherlands and earned him recognition abroad". The L Magazines Mark Ashe quoted the American editions of his novels by referring to him as "Holland's Greatest Author" and "Holland's most important postwar writer".
Works
Mulisch gained international recognition with the film The AssaultThe Assault (film)
The Assault is a 1986 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Harry Mulisch. The film was directed and produced by Fons Rademakers...
(1986), which was based on his book The Assault
The Assault
The Assault is a 1982 novel by Harry Mulisch about the Second World War. It deals with the consequences for the lone survivor of a Nazi retaliation on an innocent family after a collaborator named Fake Ploeg is found killed outside their home.The novel takes readers on the journey through the main...
(1982). It received an Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
and a Golden Globe for best foreign movie and has been translated into more than twenty languages.
His novel The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven is a 1992 novel by Dutch author Harry Mulisch. It describes the intense friendship between two men and the mystical journey of another to return to Heaven the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments....
(1992) is considered his masterpiece, it was voted “the best Dutch-language book ever” by Dutch readers in a 2007 newspaper poll. “It is the book that shaped our generation; it made us love, even obsess, with reading,” said Peter-Paul Spanjaard, 32, a lawyer in Amsterdam at the time of Mulisch's death. It was filmed in 2001 as The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven is a 1992 novel by Dutch author Harry Mulisch. It describes the intense friendship between two men and the mystical journey of another to return to Heaven the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments....
by Jeroen Krabbé
Jeroen Krabbé
Jeroen Aart Krabbé is a Dutch actor and film director who has appeared in many Dutch and international films.-Biography:...
, starring Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...
.
Among the many awards he received for individual works and his total body of work, the most important is the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren
The Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren is awarded every three years to an author from the Netherlands, Belgium or, since 2005, Suriname writing in Dutch...
(Prize of Dutch Literature, a lifetime achievement award) in 1995.
Themes in his work
A frequent theme in his work is the Second World War. His father had worked for the Germans during the war and went to prison for three years afterwards. As the war spanned most of Mulisch's formative phase, it had a defining influence on his life and work. In 1963, he wrote a non-fiction work about the Eichmann case: Criminal Case 40/61. Major works set against the backdrop of the Second World War are De Aanslag (The AssaultThe Assault
The Assault is a 1982 novel by Harry Mulisch about the Second World War. It deals with the consequences for the lone survivor of a Nazi retaliation on an innocent family after a collaborator named Fake Ploeg is found killed outside their home.The novel takes readers on the journey through the main...
), Het stenen bruidsbed, and Siegfried, the latter an attempt to examine why so many Germans responded to Hitler's charisma
Mulisch often incorporated ancient legends or myths in his writings, drawing on Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
(e.g. in De Elementen), Jewish mysticism (in De ontdekking van de Hemel
The Discovery of Heaven
The Discovery of Heaven is a 1992 novel by Dutch author Harry Mulisch. It describes the intense friendship between two men and the mystical journey of another to return to Heaven the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments....
and De Procedure), well known urban legends and politics (Mulisch was politically left-wing, once signing a book "dedicated in admiration" to Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
). Mulisch's works are widely read.
In 1984 he delivered the Huizinga Lecture
Huizinga Lecture
The Huizinga Lecture is a prestigious annual lecture in the Netherlands about a subject in the domains of cultural history or philosophy. The lecture is in honour of Johan Huizinga, a distinguished Dutch historian who worked in the first half of the 20th century...
in Leiden, The Netherlands, under the title: Het Ene (the unifying principle).
Honours
- 1977: Knight of the Order of Orange-NassauOrder of Orange-NassauThe Order of Orange-Nassau is a military and civil order of the Netherlands which was created on 4 April 1892 by the Queen regent Emma of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of her under-age daughter Queen Wilhelmina. The Order is a chivalry order open to "everyone who have earned special merits for...
(NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) - 1992: Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
- 1997: Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
- 2001: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) - 2002: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Awards
- 1951: Reina Prinsen Geerligs Award, for the novel "archibald strohalm"
- 1957: De Bijenkorf Literary Award, for the novel "The Black Light"
- 1957: Anne Frank Award, for novel "archibald strohalm"
- 1961: Athos Prize, for lifetime achievement
- 1961: ANV-Visser Neerlandia Prize, for the play "Tanchelijn"
- 1963: Vijverberg Prize, for the report "Criminal Case 40/61"
- 1977: Constantijn Huygens PrizeConstantijn Huygens PrizeThe Constantijn Huygens Prize is a Dutch literary award.-History:Since 1947, it has been awarded each year for an author's complete works by the Jan Campert Foundation , a foundation named in honor of the Dutch writer Jan Campert who died while helping Jews during WWII...
, for lifetime achievement - 1977: Cestoda Prize
- 1977: P. C. Hooft AwardP. C. Hooft AwardThe P.C. Hooft Award is a Dutch language literary oeuvre award, given annually. The award is alternately given for prose , essays and poetry....
, for lifetime achievement - 1986: Deep Sea Award, for the novel "The Assault"
- 1993: Multatuli Prize, for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
- 1993: Mecca Award, for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
- 1995: Dutch Literature PrizePrijs der Nederlandse LetterenThe Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren is awarded every three years to an author from the Netherlands, Belgium or, since 2005, Suriname writing in Dutch...
, for his whole oeuvre - 1999: Libris Literature Prize, for the novel "The procedure"
- 1999: Prix Jean Monnet de Littérature Européenne, French prize for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
- 2003: Inktaap prize, for the novel "Siegfried"
- 2003: Premio Flaiano, Italian prize for literature
- 2007: Prix européen des jeunes lecteurs, French prize for the novel "Siegfried"
- 2007: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Amsterdam
- 2007: Premio Nonino, Italian prize for literature
- 2007: Prize for best Dutch novel of all time, for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
- 2009: Golden Century Award, for his entire oeuvre
Planetoid
Mulisch was honored with a planetoid in his name on 12 October 2006 (see 10251 Mulisch10251 Mulisch
10251 Mulisch is a main belt asteroid with an orbital period of 1301.6191419 days . It was named after Harry Mulisch, a Dutch author.The asteroid was discovered on March 26, 1971.-References:...
)
External links
- Harry Mulisch - Official Website (DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
) - Schrijversnet - Dutch website with info on Dutch writers
- Harry Mulisch 'Bookweb' on literary website The Ledge, with suggestions for further reading.
- Literatuurplein - Dutch literature website (Dutch language).
Obituaries