Maria van Zuylekom

Maria van Zuylekom
Born(1759-07-29)29 July 1759
Den Haag, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Died7 April 1831(1831-04-07) (aged 71)
Den Haag, Kingdom of the Netherlands
Pen nameMvZ or MDW
SpouseJacob Eduard de Witte (m. 1790)
Children4

Maria van Zuylekom (29 July 1759 – 7 April 1831) was a Dutch poet and writer.

Biography

Van Zuylekom was born on 29 July 1759 in Tedingerbroek (now known as Den Haag), Kingdom of the Netherlands. Her parents were Jan van Zuylekom and Agnita van Zuylekom (née Ameur).[1][2][3] Her mother giving birth to her younger sister Theodora Aletta when van Zuylekom was aged 2.[2] Her father remarried to Johanna ter Brake, who raised van Zuylekom and her siblings.[1]

Van Zuylekom worked as a companion and started writing.[1] She was inspired by Margaret Geertruid de Cambon-van der Werken and considered that her works demonstrated that female authorship was as valuable as male authorship.[4] Van Zuylebom was a member of the poetry society Kunstliefde Spaart Geen Vlijt in Den Haag from 1788.[2] In 1786, Van Zuylekon had dedicated her work Mengelingen in Prosa en Poëzy to the society.[3] She was also a member of the society Vlijt is de Voedster der Wetenschappen in Utrecht from 1789.[2]

After regularly visiting him during his imprisonment at the Gevangenpoort (Prisoner's Gate) in Den Haag,[5][6] van Zuylekom became the partner of ensign infantry and writer Jacob Eduard de Witte, who was serving a six-year sentence for treason. She allowed herself to be locked in prison with him every evening.[1][7] In the prison, Van Zuylekom and de Witte wrote the epistolary novel Henriëtte van Grandpré (1789) together.[8][9] Collaboration between two authors was fashionable in the Netherlands during the late eighteenth-century.[9]

After de Witte was released from prison, he married van Zuylekom on 24 May 1790 in Rosmalen, North Brabant.[1][2] They had four children together, including two daughters who were known to have had a good education[10] and a son who enlisted as a second lieutenant in the Dutch military.[1]

The young family moved frequently and lived in Haarlem, Oss, Rosmalen, Zaltbommel and Zuidlaren.[2] De Witte was exiled from the Netherlands and was imprisoned in Alkmaar, North Holland, in 1802 for repeatedly breaking his banishment.[5][11] Van Zuylekom requested residence in Alkmaar as a burgess which was granted by the Committee of General Welfare of the city on 8 May 1802.[5]

In 1813, van Zuylekom released two publications in Amsterdam: Lierzang aan mijne Landgenooten, in Slachtmaand 1813 and Opwekking aan de Nederlanders, Lierzang.[2]

Van Zuylekom died on 7 April 1831 in Den Haag, aged 71.[1]

Publications

  • Mengelingen in Prosa en Poëzy (Den Hague, 1786)
  • Henriëtte van Grandpré (Leiden, 1789)
  • Osman en Ophelia (1790)
  • Ismene and Selinde in brieven (1792)
  • Lierzang aan mijne Landgenooten, in Slachtmaand 1813 (Amsterdam, 1813)
  • Opwekking aan de Nederlanders, Lierzang (Amsterdam, 1813)

Van Zuylekom also contributed to journals, such as the Almanac for Women by Women and Contributions to Human Happiness, under the initials MvZ or MDW.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Helmers, Dini M. (13 January 2014). "Zuylekom, Maria van (1759-1831)". Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Nederland (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 25 December 2024. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Zuylekom, Maria van (1759 - 1831)". shewrote.rich.ru.nl. Archived from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  3. ^ a b Aa, Abraham Hans van der (1878). Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden, bevattende levensbeschrijvingen van zoodanige personen, die zich op eenigerlei wijze in ons vaderland hebben vermaard gemaakt (in Dutch). J.J. van Brederode. p. 23.
  4. ^ Dietz, Feike (22 May 2021). Lettering Young Readers in the Dutch Enlightenment: Literacy, Agency and Progress in Eighteenth-Century Children’s Books. Springer Nature. p. 173. ISBN 978-3-030-69633-7. Archived from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Zuylekom, maria van - de betekenis volgens NBW". Ensie. Archived from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  6. ^ Witte, Jacob Eduard de (1993). Fragmenten uit de roman van mijn leeven (in Dutch). Uitgeverij Verloren. p. 28. ISBN 978-90-6550-122-6. Archived from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  7. ^ "Overleven aan de onderkant". Literatuurgeschiedenis (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 6 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  8. ^ van Dijk, Suzan (2001). "Early historiography of Dutch and French women's literature" (PDF). In van Dijk, S.; van Gemert, L.; Ottway, S. (eds.). Writing the history of women’s writing. Toward an international approach. p. 83. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  9. ^ a b van Gemert, L. (2015). Simpele romans over moeilijke problemen: het werk van Cornelia van der Weyde en Jean des Villates (in Dutch). WroclawNeisse Verlag. p. 257. ISBN 978-83-7977-131-8. Archived from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  10. ^ Nagtglas, F. (1893). Levensberichten van Zeeuwen: Zijnde een Vervolg op P. de la Rue, Geletterd, staatskundig en heldhaftig Zeeland. Voor het Zeeuws Genootschap der Wetenschappen uitgegeven door F. Nagtglas (in Dutch). J.C. & W. Altorffer. p. 997. Archived from the original on 19 December 2025. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  11. ^ Altena, Peter. (2002) "Jacob Eduard the White. From traitor to writer." In: de Haas, Anna ed. Under lock and key. Writers in Dutch captivity 1700-1800. Zutphen. pp. 183-191.
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