author
H. J. (Hindrik Jan) Bulthuis
1865–1945
Best known in Esperanto circles, this Dutch writer and translator built a remarkably wide body of work while also spending many years in the customs service. His fiction, plays, poetry, and language books helped bring original literature and translations to a growing international readership.
1 Audiobook
Idoj de Orfeo
by H. J. (Hindrik Jan) Bulthuis
About the author
Born in Warffum in 1865, he was a Dutch author, translator, and Esperanto advocate who is usually listed as Hendrik Jan Bulthuis. Alongside his literary work, he served as a customs official for many years, a practical career that ran in parallel with his writing life.
Bulthuis wrote extensively in Esperanto, producing novels, drama, poetry, and learning materials, and he also translated more than thirty works into the language. His literary career is often traced to the early 1900s, and one of his best-known novels, Idoj de Orfeo (Children of Orpheus), has been noted in Esperanto reading lists.
He died in Noordbroek in 1945. Today he is remembered less as a mainstream Dutch novelist than as a dedicated builder of Esperanto literature—someone who helped give the language a richer shelf of original and translated books.