Godfried Bomans

Who was Godfried Bomans?

Godfried Bomans was a popular Dutch author and television personality and a prominent Dutch catholic. Much of his work remains untranslated into English.

Though born in The Hague, he grew up in and around Haarlem, in the Dutch province North-Holland, where his father had a law office.

Already as a pupil on high school Bomans showed literary interest; he became editor of school newspapers and published short stories, even in literary and student magazines.

He originally studied law at the University of Amsterdam;LL.B. and then until 1942 psychology and philosophy at the University of Nijmegen, but spent his entire life writing. In 1943 he quit his studies and moved back to Haarlem. There he helped save a number of Jews, for which he received the distinction Righteous Among the Nations. He is best known for his books of modern day fairy tales and his short, humorous pieces full of wit, parody and mild irony. In 1950 he began an artist's club in Haarlem called Teisterbant, that became better known for its literary influences rather than other arts. He was friends with leading Haarlem artists and writers, and was "best man" for local artist Anton Heyboer in 1953. He was a widely read author in the 1950s and 1960s, but he is not mentioned in most histories of Dutch literature and did not receive a single literary prize. Nevertheless, a seven volume edition of his collected Works was published between 1996 and 1999. His phantasy book Erik, or the Little Insect Book, widely read during the German occupation of the Netherlands, was made into a film in 2004.