| Cissy van Marxveldt | |
|---|---|
| Born | Setske de Haan 24 November 1889 Oranjewoud, Netherlands |
| Died | 31 October 1948 (aged 58) Bussum, Netherlands |
| Pen name | Cissy van Marxveldt |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Spouse(s) | Leo Beek (1916–1944) |
| Children | Leo and IJnze |
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Influenced
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Setske de Haan (24 November 1889 – 31 October 1948), better known by her pen name Cissy van Marxveldt, was a Dutch writer of children's books. She is the author of the series of Joop ter Heul novels.
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Setske de Haan was born on 24 November 1889 in the village Oranjewoud in the province Friesland in the Netherlands. She was the daughter of IJnze de Haan, a headmaster and history teacher, and Froukje de Groot.[1]
In 1914, she met Leo Beek, a department store manager as well as a reserve infantry officer. They married on 2 February 1916 and had two sons, Leo and IJnze. Her husband was arrested and later executed at Westerbork transit camp in 1944, though it was 1946 before she learned of his fate. She died on 31 October 1948 in Bussum, Netherlands.[1]
De Haan began her literary career by writing articles and stories for Dutch magazines. In the year she married, she published the first book 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:
Her 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 whom Joop was constantly writing to: Kitty Francken.
Marxveldt also wrote many other books for young people, "Een Zomerzotheid" ("A Crazy Summer") being particularly popular.
She dedicated her last book She Suffered Too to her husband, after she learned of his death.
During her life, Cissy van Marxveldt published 27 books. Two books were published posthumously.[2]