author
P. J. (Paulina Jacoba) Cohen de Vries
1884–1923
A Dutch teacher turned writer, she drew on everyday classroom life to create warm, observant stories about children in the early 20th century. Her best-known work captures the humor, hardship, and humanity of pupils in an Amsterdam school.
1 Audiobook
Kinderen uit m'n klas
by P. J. (Paulina Jacoba) Cohen de Vries
About the author
Born in Amsterdam on April 10, 1884, Paulina Jacoba Cohen-de Vries trained as a teacher and earned her teaching certificate at a notably young age. In 1905 she began teaching at a school for poor children in Amsterdam, an experience that would strongly shape her writing.
She is best known for Kinderen uit m'n klas, a series of vivid sketches about schoolchildren that first appeared in the Nieuwe Rotterdamsche Courant and were later published in book form in 1922. Her work is remembered for its close, sympathetic attention to children's lives and for the way it brings an ordinary classroom fully to life.
Cohen-de Vries died in Hilversum on April 19, 1923, at just 39 years old. Though her life was short, her writing remains a lively window into Dutch school life and children's literature of her time.