Cissy van Marxveldt
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Cissy van Marxveldt (November 24, 1889 - October 31, 1948), Dutch writer of children's books, whose Joop ter Heul novels for teenage girls had a notable influence on the writings of Anne Frank, who addressed her diary letters to an imaginary friend, whom all of Anne's researchers - and Anne's friend Kitty Egyedi herself - believe was based on one of Marxveldt's characters who Joop was constantly writing to: Kitty Francken.
Born Setske de Haan in Oranjewoud, Friesland, she began her literary career by writing articles and stories for Dutch magazines. She married Leo Beek (1893 - 1944), a reserve infantry officer in 1919 the year she published the first in her sequence of novels about the headstrong Joop ter Heul. The books, similar in theme to Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, take the form of diary notes and letters, following the fortunes of Joop and her friends from girlhood to marriage in five volumes:
- The High School Years of Joop ter Heul (1919)
- Joop ter Heul's Problems (1921)
- Joop ter Heul gets Married (1923)
- Joop and her Boys (1925)
- Joop ter Heul's Daughter (1946)
Marxveldt also wrote many other books for young people, "Een Zomerzotheid" ("A Crazy Summer") being particularly popular.
Her husband was arrested and sent to Westerbork transit camp where he was killed by firing squad in August 1944. Van Marxveldt did not learn his fate until 1947 and dedicated her last book, 'She Suffered Too' to him. She died the following year in Bussum.
