Jan van Oort
Encyclopedia
Jan van Oort was a Dutch children's book writer and comic strip cartoonist
, working under the pseudonym
of Jean Dulieu. He is known for his creation of Paulus the woodgnome.
. He was the son of concert singer Hendrik C. van Oort, and grandson of the political cartoonist Johan Braakensiek
. Van Oort was into music, and creative activities such as drawing and puppet making.
Jan van Oort studied the violin
on the conservatorium where he graduated in 1940, and became violinist with the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
. During the Dutch famine of 1944
, the orchestra was decommissioned, allowing Van Oort more time for drawing. While living at the time in Soest, he made twelve designs of gnome
s, and let his wife Kitty Sijmons pick the best one. This one he elaborated to a full-blown children's book character and named him Paulus.
Shortly after the war, Van Oort and his family moved to Terschelling
, and a year later ended his participation in the orchestra, aiming for a full job in comics strips, although having no education in this field.
In 1984 when he was 63, he finished his cartoonist career. Van Oort died in 2006 in Arnhem
, at the age of 85. In September of that year, his daughter Dorinde van Oort published a novel about her family, where her father is named Lepel Mansborg.
. Van Oort used the pseudonym
of Jean Dulieu, the literal French translation of Jan van Oort, to protect a possible image loss to his violinist career in case of failure in his cartooning work. In total, Van Oort created approximately 3600 comic strips for this newspaper.
In 1948, the first illustrated Paulus children's books were published, including Paulus the deputy Sint Nicolas and the Paulus winterbook, the latter having even coloured illustrations. During the years more publications followed, including Paulus and Eucalypta, Paulus and the dragon, and Paulus and Skipper Mackarel. In 1964, he published his masterpiece Paulus and the acorn men, with many colour illustrations and the death theme. Various books by Dulieu have been translated to English, German, South-African, Japanese
and Swedish
.
movies of 10 minutes each for the Dutch television programme Monitor. He created all puppets, scenery and accessories by himself. These movies were also broadcast in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.
In the 1970s, Van oort started a new series of newspaper comic strips, totalling 23 full stories. In 1984 when he was 63, he finished his last Paulus.
Even in 2008, new Paulus books are still being published, based on so far unpublished material, by De Meulder Publishers.
Following travels to Italy
, Van Oort published in 1953 the book Francesco about Francis of Assisi
.
His full career as comic strips cartoonist was awarded the Stripschapsprijs in 1981.
Since 1995, the Paulus Archives are collecting and publishing the life and works of Jean Dulieu and Paulus the woodgnome, notably via the magazine Bouterbode.
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
, working under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Jean Dulieu. He is known for his creation of Paulus the woodgnome.
Personal biography
Jan van Oort was born on 13 April 1921 in AmsterdamAmsterdam
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...
. He was the son of concert singer Hendrik C. van Oort, and grandson of the political cartoonist Johan Braakensiek
Johan Braakensiek
Johan Coenraad Braakensiek was a Dutch painter, illustrator and political cartoonist. He is the grandfather of Jan van Oort.-Personal life:...
. Van Oort was into music, and creative activities such as drawing and puppet making.
Jan van Oort studied the violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
on the conservatorium where he graduated in 1940, and became violinist with the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra is a symphony orchestra of the Netherlands, based at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. In 1988, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands conferred the "Royal" title upon the orchestra...
. During the Dutch famine of 1944
Dutch famine of 1944
The Dutch famine of 1944, known as the Hongerwinter in Dutch, was a famine that took place in the German-occupied part of the Netherlands, especially in the densely populated western provinces above the great rivers, during the winter of 1944-1945, near the end of World War II. A German blockade...
, the orchestra was decommissioned, allowing Van Oort more time for drawing. While living at the time in Soest, he made twelve designs of gnome
Gnome
A gnome is a diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature...
s, and let his wife Kitty Sijmons pick the best one. This one he elaborated to a full-blown children's book character and named him Paulus.
Shortly after the war, Van Oort and his family moved to Terschelling
Terschelling
Terschelling is a municipality and an island in the northern Netherlands, one of the West Frisian Islands.Waddenislanders are known for their resourcefulness in using anything and everything that washes ashore. With few trees to use for timber, most of the farms and barns are built with masts...
, and a year later ended his participation in the orchestra, aiming for a full job in comics strips, although having no education in this field.
In 1984 when he was 63, he finished his cartoonist career. Van Oort died in 2006 in Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
, at the age of 85. In September of that year, his daughter Dorinde van Oort published a novel about her family, where her father is named Lepel Mansborg.
Paulus books
Paulus the woodgnome was published from 1946 onward in the daily newspaper Het Vrije VolkHet Vrije Volk
Het Vrije Volk was a Dutch social-democratic daily newspaper. It was the successor, after World War II, of the socialist daily Het Volk.After World War II, it appeared legally 1 March 1945 in Eindhoven...
. Van Oort used the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
of Jean Dulieu, the literal French translation of Jan van Oort, to protect a possible image loss to his violinist career in case of failure in his cartooning work. In total, Van Oort created approximately 3600 comic strips for this newspaper.
In 1948, the first illustrated Paulus children's books were published, including Paulus the deputy Sint Nicolas and the Paulus winterbook, the latter having even coloured illustrations. During the years more publications followed, including Paulus and Eucalypta, Paulus and the dragon, and Paulus and Skipper Mackarel. In 1964, he published his masterpiece Paulus and the acorn men, with many colour illustrations and the death theme. Various books by Dulieu have been translated to English, German, South-African, Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
.
Paulus in other media
In the period 1955 to 1964, Paulus the woodgnome was broadcast as radio drama. Van Oort did all the voices himself, with the exception of Princess Priegeltje, which was done by his daughter Dorinde van Oort. Starting 1967, Van Oort made 39 puppetPuppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
movies of 10 minutes each for the Dutch television programme Monitor. He created all puppets, scenery and accessories by himself. These movies were also broadcast in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.
In the 1970s, Van oort started a new series of newspaper comic strips, totalling 23 full stories. In 1984 when he was 63, he finished his last Paulus.
Even in 2008, new Paulus books are still being published, based on so far unpublished material, by De Meulder Publishers.
Other publications
Besides Paulus, Van Oort created for Albert Heyn a book Boffie and Buikie in a tie, an album for which 96 paper strips could be collected from Albert Heyn shop purchases.Following travels to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Van Oort published in 1953 the book Francesco about Francis of Assisi
Francis of Assisi
Saint Francis of Assisi was an Italian Catholic friar and preacher. He founded the men's Franciscan Order, the women’s Order of St. Clare, and the lay Third Order of Saint Francis. St...
.
Awards
Van Oorts book Paulus the deputy Sint Nicolas was Best Children's Book in 1962, and he received an Edison award for a grammophone record of one of his Paulus stories.His full career as comic strips cartoonist was awarded the Stripschapsprijs in 1981.
Since 1995, the Paulus Archives are collecting and publishing the life and works of Jean Dulieu and Paulus the woodgnome, notably via the magazine Bouterbode.
External links
- http://www.beeldengeluid.nl/collecties_zoek_en_vind_tvfilm.jsp?Action=FilterSearch&QueryZip=jean%3CAND%3Edulieu&Filter=snelzoeken_naa2_filter.hts&ResultTemplate=snelzoeken_results.hts&Collection=Jou&Collection=Act&Collection=Prg&Collection=CommTV&Collection=Radio&Collection=sfwgr&Collection=CommRa&Collection=Pol&Collection=RVD&Collection=Sfm&Collection=Overig&SortField=Datum&SortOrder=Asc&ViewTemplate=snelzoeken_docview.hts&ResultStart=001&ResultCount=50&invoerveld=jean+dulieuList of programmes (old catalogue)] in the archives of Beeld & Geluid
- List of programmes (new catalogue) in the archives of Beeld & Geluid
- Biography at LambiekLambiekLambiek is a comic book store and art gallery in Amsterdam, founded in 1968 by Kees Kousemaker .It has held exhibitions of art by comic creators, including Robert Crumb, Daniel Clowes, Erik Kriek, André Franquin, Tanino Liberatore and Chris Ware...
's Comiclopedia - Paulus, de lotgevallen van een boskabouter (Dutch), comprehensive website of M.L. Bergsma about Paulus
- Paulus Archives (Dutch), website
- De Meulder Publishers (Dutch)