author
Arend Fokke Simonsz
1755–1812
A lively Dutch satirist and man of letters, he moved through Amsterdam’s literary world as a writer, publisher, and speaker. He is especially remembered for imaginative, comic works, including an early utopian tale that looks ahead to the year 3000.
1 Audiobook
Het toekomend jaar drie duizend: Eene mijmering
by Arend Fokke Simonsz
About the author
Born in Amsterdam in 1755 and dying there in 1812, Arend Fokke Simonsz was a Dutch writer and intellectual active in the city’s busy literary culture. He was known not only for writing, but also for running a publishing house and taking part in numerous literary societies.
His work had a strong comic and satirical streak. Among the books most often linked with him is Het toekomende jaar 3000, which is noted as an early example of utopian writing, along with other playful and literary satires that helped make him a recognizable figure in the Dutch world of letters.
What makes him interesting today is the range of his activity: he was not simply an author working alone, but someone deeply involved in how literature was written, published, discussed, and performed. That wider role helps explain why he remained a notable presence in late eighteenth-century Dutch literary life.