Joan Leonardsz Blasius was a Dutch poet, playwright, translator and lawyer. Born near Cadzand

Cadzand

Cadzand is a town in the Dutch province of Zeeland. It is located in the municipality of Sluis, about 8 km northwest of Oostburg. The village contains 804 inhabitants . Better known to many visitors is the nearby beach at Cadzand-Bad....

 in Oostvliet, a village now lost to the North Sea, he was the younger brother of the famous doctor Gerhard Blasius.

Blasius in 1670 became director of the Amsterdam Municipal Theatre, the Amsterdamse Schouwburg, but because of this powerful position as well as the romantic nature of his works for the theatre, he incurred the enmity of the tradition oriented theatre company "Nil Volentibus Arduum". When he put on Plautus

Plautus

Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...

's Menaechmi

Menaechmi

Menaechmi, a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as The Brothers Menaechmus or The Two Menaechmuses....

in translation, that theatre company promptly came out with a translation of its own. Their attacks, however, were fiercely answered by Blasius' friends, especially Thomases Asselyn.

Blasius' work was in high repute amongst his contemporaries, but today critical opinion no longer holds it in high esteem.

Blasius died 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...

. His friends contributed to an Album amicorum

Festschrift

In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...

for him, which incluuded work by such prominent authors as Joost van der Vondel, Constantijn Huygens

Constantijn Huygens

Constantijn Huygens , was a Dutch Golden Age poet and composer. He was secretary to two Princes of Orange: Frederick Henry and William II, and the father of the scientist Christiaan Huygens.-Biography:...

, Joannes Antonides van der Goes, Jan Vos

Jan Vos (poet)

Jan Jansz. Vos was a Dutch playwright and poet. A glassmaker by trade , he also played an important role as stage-manager and director of the theatre...

 and Jacob Westerbaen

Jacob Westerbaen

Ridder Jacob Westerbaen , heer of Brantwyck-en-Ghybelant, was a Dutch poet.-Life:Westerbaen was born in The Hague, the son of a rope maker, and was initially schooled in the Staten-College, then as secretary and preacher of the Remonstrants of the Synod of Dort...

.

Poetry

• Geslachtboom der Goden en Godinnen, waarachter bijgevoegde Mengeldichten (1661)
• Fidamants Kusjes, Minnewijsen en Bijrijmen aan Celestijne (1663)
• Heilige Gedachten over het avondmaal onses Heeren (naar 't Latijn van R. Kenchenius) met noch andere Bijbelstof (1665) [an adaptation of Kenchenius' poem in Latin]

Drama

• De Edelmoedige Vijanden (a comedy after Scarron) (1659)
• Lysander en Kaliste (first part, 1660; reissued 1663; second part, 1663)
• Dubbel en Enkkel (a comedy after Plautus) (1670)
• Het Huwelijk van Oroondate en Statira (after the French) (1670)
• De Malle Wedding (a farce after Boisrobert) (1671).