Jan ten Brink

Born in Appingedam in 1834, Jan ten Brink became an influential Dutch writer, critic, and literary historian. He studied theology before turning fully toward literature, spent a short period in Batavia, and later taught at a secondary school in The Hague.

In 1884, he was appointed professor of Dutch literature at Leiden University. Alongside his academic work, he wrote novels and literary criticism, and he became known for large historical studies of Dutch literature that reached a broad readership.

Ten Brink died in 1901. He is often remembered as a conservative literary voice, but also as a central figure in bringing Dutch literary history to general readers as well as students.