Hieronymus van Alphen

Born in Gouda on August 8, 1746, and later active in Utrecht, Leiden, and The Hague, Hieronymus van Alphen was a Dutch jurist, government official, and poet. He is most widely remembered for Kleine gedigten voor kinderen, a collection of poems for children first published between 1778 and 1782.

His writing stood out because it treated childhood with unusual care and seriousness for its time. The poems are gentle, moral, and observant, and they helped make him one of the best-known early writers for children in Dutch literature.

Van Alphen also had an important public life beyond literature. He served in high office in the Dutch Republic, including as Treasurer-General, though political change later pushed him out of office for a time. He died in The Hague on April 2, 1803.