author
Henri Borel
1869–1933
Drawn to China’s literature and philosophy at a time when few European readers knew them well, this Dutch writer helped open that world to a wider audience. His fiction, essays, and translations blend literary feeling with a lifelong fascination for Asian thought.
11 Audiobooks
Wijsheid en schoonheid uit Indië
by Henri Borel
De Geest van China
by Henri Borel
Kwan Yin: Een boek van de Goden en de Hel
by Henri Borel
Vlindertje: een Haagsche roman
by Henri Borel
Wijsheid en Schoonheid uit China
by Henri Borel
Leliane: een modern sprookje
by Henri Borel
Leliënstad
by Henri Borel
Het Jongetje
by Henri Borel
Een Droom
by Henri Borel
About the author
Born in Dordrecht on November 23, 1869, Henri Borel was a Dutch writer, journalist, and sinologist. He studied Chinese in Leiden and then continued his language training in Xiamen, building the knowledge that would shape much of his later work.
Borel worked as an interpreter for Chinese in the Dutch East Indies and later served in advisory roles connected with Chinese affairs. Alongside that career, he wrote fiction, essays, and journalism, and he became known for bringing Chinese literature and philosophy to Dutch readers through translations and reflective prose.
He spent his later years in The Hague, where he also worked as a literary critic for Het Vaderland. Borel died there on August 31, 1933, leaving behind a body of work remembered for its curiosity about other cultures and its role in introducing Chinese thought to readers in the Netherlands.