Carel Steven Adama van Scheltema, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Carel Steven Adama van Scheltema

Dutch poet

Date of Birth: 26-Feb-1877

Place of Birth: Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

Date of Death: 06-May-1924

Profession: writer, poet

Nationality: Kingdom of the Netherlands

Zodiac Sign: Pisces


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About Carel Steven Adama van Scheltema

  • Carel Steven Adama van Scheltema (Amsterdam, 26 February 1877 — Bergen, 6 May 1924) was a Dutch socialist poet. Son of a wealthy art connoisseur and -dealer, Adama van Scheltema studied medicine for two years before dropping out to pursue his artistic interests.
  • He worked for the Dutch Drama Society and in an art gallery before his father died in 1899, leaving him financially independent.
  • Allowed to concentrate upon literature, Adama van Scheltema started writing poetry and abandoned the naturalist prose which had until then been his main affection.
  • In 1900, he published his first collection of poems, "Een weg van verzen" (A way of verses).For Adama van Scheltema, socialism and nature were prominent sources of inspiration.
  • He developed his thoughts into his 1907 book, "De grondslagen eener nieuwe poëzie" (The Fundaments of a New Poetry).
  • This book marked a decisive break with the Tachtigers (The 80's Movement), whose mentality of l'art pour l'art had been very influential in the Netherlands.
  • Adama van Scheltema instead asserted that art should have a social function and be available to the masses.When working on this book, Adama van Scheltema hired Anna Catharina Kleefstra as a secretary.
  • They soon fell in love and were married on 24 October 1907.
  • The marriage, while childless, was happy, and the couple moved between different European cities before settling down in the small Dutch town of Bergen, North Holland.
  • There Adama van Scheltema, a melancholic as well as a nature-lover, was able to find peace of mind.World War One, however, triggered an emotional crisis, and Adama van Scheltema's poetry took on a darker, religious undertone.
  • This development reached its apogee in the epical poem "De Tors" (The Torso), which was published in its entirety after the author's sudden death in 1924.

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