Schendel, Arthur Van

Schendel, Arthur Van 

Born Mar. 5, 1874, in Batavia, now Jakarta, Indonesia; died Sept. 11, 1946, in Amsterdam. Dutch writer.

Schendel worked as a teacher of English. His novels A Wanderer in Love (1904), A Lost Wanderer (1907), and Flowers of Love (1921) and the short story “Angiolino and the Spring” (1923) depicted a romantic milieu outside of time and space. In the novel The Johanna Maria (1930; Russian translation, 1966), Schendel dealt with the real world. His novels The Man From the River (1933), The House in Haarlem (1935), and The World Is a Dance Festival (1938) had a more distinct social orientation and sought to present a realistic portrait of the Dutch bourgeoisie. The stylized Reminiscences of a Foolish Boy (1934) was written in imitation of folk tales. Schendel also wrote the novel Mijnheer Oberon and His Wife (1940) and the antifascist narrative poem The Netherlands (1945). The tense atmosphere of the postwar years was reflected in his autobiographical Passing Shadows (published 1948).

REFERENCES

’s-Gravesande, A. van. A. van Schendel: Zijn leven en werk. Amsterdam, 1949.
Stuiveling, G. “A. van Schendels drie gestalten.” In Steekproeven. Amsterdam, 1950.
Heerikhuizen, F. W. van. Het werk van A. van Schendel. Amsterdam, 1961.

I. V. VOLEVICH