Jef Last
Encyclopedia
Josephus Carel Franciscus (Jef) Last (The Hague
, 2 May 1898 – Laren
, 15 February 1972) was a Dutch
poet and writer.
Jef Last was a writer and socially compassionate man. He had a Catholic
background. However, he was very young member of the SDAP
and the "AJC". These principles, he could not practice as an assistant manager of the Enka in Ede
, and eventually he resigned.
He left the revisionist social democracy
to become a member of Henk Sneevliet
s (Revolutionair Socialistische Partij
). With his revolutionary friend André Gide
, he traveled in the summer of 1936 to the Soviet Union
. The pair was received in a great way, but saw through the organized tribute and returned back to the west disillusioned. Much later Last wrote a book about his friendship with Gide.
Last fought in the Spanish Civil War
in the International Brigades
, which was on the side of the Spanish Republic
. As a result he lost his Dutch citizenship for military service for a foreign power. Shortly after the Second World War, the citizinship was returned.
He lived from 1950 to 1953 in Indonesia, particularly in Singaraja
(Bali
), where he worked as a teacher at a secondary school. He befriended with president
Sukarno
and Mohammad Hatta
.
.
The last years of his life were spent in the Rosa Spier House in Laren
. After his death, his body was made available to science.
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, 2 May 1898 – Laren
Laren
is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called 't Gooi, it is the oldest town in that area. It is one of the richest towns in the Netherlands, along with its neighbour Blaricum...
, 15 February 1972) was a Dutch
Netherland
Netherland is a critically acclaimed novel by Joseph O'Neill. It concerns the life of a Dutchman living in New York in the wake of the September 11 attacks who takes up cricket and starts playing at the Staten Island Cricket Club.-Plot summary:...
poet and writer.
Jef Last was a writer and socially compassionate man. He had a Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
background. However, he was very young member of the SDAP
Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands)
The Social Democratic Workers' Party was a Dutch socialist political party and a predecessor of the social-democratic PvdA.-1893-1904:...
and the "AJC". These principles, he could not practice as an assistant manager of the Enka in Ede
Ede, Netherlands
' is a municipality and a town in the center of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland.- Population centres :Community :* Bennekom: 14.749* De Klomp: 508* Deelen: 50* Ede : 67.812* Ederveen: 3.167* Harskamp: 3.464...
, and eventually he resigned.
He left the revisionist social democracy
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
to become a member of Henk Sneevliet
Henk Sneevliet
Hendricus Josephus Franciscus Marie Sneevliet, known as Henk Sneevliet or the pseudonym Maring , was a Dutch Communist, who was active in both the Netherlands and the Dutch East-Indies...
s (Revolutionair Socialistische Partij
Revolutionary Socialist Party (Netherlands)
The Revolutionary Socialist Party was a Dutch socialist political party.-Predecessors:The oldest predecessor of the Revolutionary Socialist Party is the Revolutionary Socialist Union , a group of dissidents from the Communist Party Holland led by Henk Sneevliet...
). With his revolutionary friend André Gide
André Gide
André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...
, he traveled in the summer of 1936 to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. The pair was received in a great way, but saw through the organized tribute and returned back to the west disillusioned. Much later Last wrote a book about his friendship with Gide.
Last fought in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
, which was on the side of the Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
. As a result he lost his Dutch citizenship for military service for a foreign power. Shortly after the Second World War, the citizinship was returned.
He lived from 1950 to 1953 in Indonesia, particularly in Singaraja
Singaraja
Singaraja is the regency seat of Buleleng, Bali, Indonesia. The name is Indonesian for "Lion King". It is on the north coast just east of Lovina...
(Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
), where he worked as a teacher at a secondary school. He befriended with president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
Sukarno
Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...
and Mohammad Hatta
Mohammad Hatta
was born in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies . He was Indonesia's first vice president, later also serving as the country's Prime Minister. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, fought for the independence of...
.
Family
He was married to Ida ter Haar from 1923, whom he divorced and with whom he later married. They had three daughters. Jef was bisexual. He was co-founder of the homosexual emancipation Shakespeare Club, the forerunner of the COCCOC Nederland
COC Nederland is a Dutch organization for LGBT men and women. COC originally stood for Cultuur en Ontspanningscentrum , which was intended as a "cover" name for its real purpose...
.
The last years of his life were spent in the Rosa Spier House in Laren
Laren
is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called 't Gooi, it is the oldest town in that area. It is one of the richest towns in the Netherlands, along with its neighbour Blaricum...
. After his death, his body was made available to science.
Work
- 1926 - Bakboordslichten (poetry)
- 1930 - Branding
- 1930 - Kameraden! (poetry)
- 1930 - Marianne
- 1932 - Liefde in de portieken
- 1932 - Verleden tijd (poetry)
- 1933 - Onder de koperen ploert
- 1933 - Partij remise
- 1933 - Twee werelden (poetry)
- 1933 - De vlucht van den opstandeling
- 1934 - Zuiderzee
- 1935 - Een huis zonder vensters
- 1935 - Voor de mast
- 1936 - Brieven uit Spanje
- 1936 - De bevrijde Eros. Een ketter in moorenland en andere gedichten (poetry)
- 1936 - Een flirt met den duivel
- 1937 - Bloedkoraal (poetry)
- 1937 - In de loopgraven voor Madrid
- 1937 - De Spaansche tragedie (The Spanish tragedyThe Spanish TragedyThe Spanish Tragedy, or Hieronimo is Mad Again is an Elizabethan tragedy written by Thomas Kyd between 1582 and 1592. Highly popular and influential in its time, The Spanish Tragedy established a new genre in English theatre, the revenge play or revenge tragedy. Its plot contains several violent...
/Spanish Front. Writers on the Civil War) - 1938 - De laatste waarheid
- 1939 - Kruisgang der jeugd; with Harry Wilde
- 1939 - De vliegende Hollander
- 1940 - Kinderen van de middernachtzon
- 1940 - Onvoldoende voor de liefde
- 1941 - Van een jongen die een man werd part I and II (youth work in 1919, at the time not published)
- 1941 - Elfstedentocht
- 1942 - Leeghwater maalt de meren leeg
- 1944 - Tau Kho Tau (poetry)
- 1945 - Een socialistische renaissance
- 1945 - Het eerste schip op de Newa (The first ship up the Neva)
- 1946 - Oog in oog (poetry)
- 1947 - Vingers van de linkerhand
- 1949 - In de zevende hemel
- 1950 - Schuim op de kust
- 1951 - De rode en de witte lotus
- 1955 - Bali in de kentering
- 1956 - Zo zag ik Indonesië
- 1957 - Een lotje uit de loterij
- 1958 - I Bontot en I Koese. De avonturen van twee Balische jongens; with Udeyana Pandji Tisna (The John Day Company)
- 1959 - Lu Hsün. Dichter und Idol
- 1960 - Japan in kimono en overall
- 1960 - Tegen de draad (poetry)
- 1960 - Vloog een bloesem terug naar haar tak
- 1962 - De Spaanse tragedie
- 1962 - Golven der Gele Rivier
- 1962 - De jeugd van Judas (The boyhood of Judas; in: The fifth Acolyte Reader, Meppel 1991)
- 1965 - China, land van de eeuwige omwenteling
- 1966 - De tweede dageraad van Japan
- 1966 - Mijn vriend André Gide
- 1967 - Rinus van der Lubbe, doodstraf voor een provo (edited reissue of Kruisgang der jeugd)
- 1968 - Strijd, handel en zeeroverij. De Hollandse tijd op Formosa
- 1970 - Vuurwerk achter de Chinese muur
- 1972 - Tjoebek in het tijgerbos (childrens book)
- 1973 - De zeven Caramboles; under pseudonym Co Mantjens, second edition with subtitel: De postume pornoroman van Jef Last