Adriaan Roland Holst
Adriaan Roland Holst (Amsterdam, 23 May 1888 – Bergen, North Holland, 5 August 1976) was a Dutch writer, nicknamed the "Prince of Dutch Poets". He was the second winner, in 1948, of the Constantijn Huygens Prize. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961.
Also recorded as Adrianus Roland Holst
Adriaan Roland Holst

Ron Kroon, Anefo · CC0
- Name
- Adriaan Roland Holst
- Born
- 23 May 1888
- Birthplace
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Died
- 5 August 1976
- Place of death
- Bergen, Netherlands
- Nationality
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Occupation
- poet · writer
- Honours
- P.C. Hooft Award · Constantijn Huygens Prize · Dutch Literature Prize · Herman Gorterprijs · D.A. Thiemeprijs · Prijs van Amsterdam
- Languages
- Dutch
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Adriaan Roland Holst (Amsterdam, 23 May 1888 – Bergen, North Holland, 5 August 1976) was a Dutch writer, nicknamed the "Prince of Dutch Poets". He was the second winner, in 1948, of the Constantijn Huygens Prize. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Adriaan Roland Holst. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q2272398 · wikipedia · Adriaan Roland Holst
In this article
Biography
Biography
Holst was the nephew of painter Richard Roland Holst and writer Henriette Roland Holst. His extensive oeuvre is characterized by its own solemn style and rich symbolism.
War monument "Stedemaagd" by Jeanne Kouwenaar-Bijlo. Erected in 1950 at the Harddraverslaan (Alkmaarder Hout) in Alkmaar. There's a poem of Adriaan Roland Holst on the pedestal.
Brbbl
![Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Dichter Adriaan Roland Holst gehuldigd te Bergen (NH) ter gelegenheid van zijn tachtigste verjaardag, in aanwezigheid van prinses Beatrix en prins Claus. De dichter werd benoemd tot commandeur in de Orde van Oranje Nassau. Links van hem op de foto minister van Cultuur, Recreatie en Maatschappelijk Werk, Marga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Dichter_Adriaan_Roland_Holst_gehuldigd_te_Bergen_%28NH%29_ter_gelegenheid_van_zijn_tachtigste_verjaardag%2C_in_aanwezigheid_van_prinses_Beatrix_en_prins_Claus%2C_Bestanddeelnr_921-4069.jpg/800px-Dichter_Adriaan_Roland_Holst_gehuldigd_te_Bergen_%28NH%29_ter_gelegenheid_van_zijn_tachtigste_verjaardag%2C_in_aanwezigheid_van_prinses_Beatrix_en_prins_Claus%2C_Bestanddeelnr_921-4069.jpg)
Collectie / Archief: Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie: [onbekend] Beschrijving: Dichter Adriaan Roland Holst gehuldigd te Bergen (NH) ter gelegenheid van zijn tachtigste verjaardag, in aanwezigheid van prinses Beatrix en prins Claus. De dichter werd benoemd tot commandeur in de Orde van Oranje Nassau. Links van hem op de foto minister van Cultuur, Recreatie en Maatschappelijk Werk, Marga
Eric Koch for Anefo
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Adriaan Roland Holst • Born — 23 May 1888 • Birthplace — Amsterdam, Netherlands • Died — 5 August 1976 • Place of death — Bergen, Netherlands
Family
Family
The artist Richard Roland Holst was a brother of his father and his wife Henriette Roland Holst-van der Schalk, the poet, writer and socialist was his aunt. Adriaan Roland Holst was called 'Jany' by friends and family. Throughout their lives all three kept in close contact.
Biography
Biography
Adriaan Roland Holst grew up in the Gooi region. He went to the high school 'Hilversum HBS' (the school is now named after him and called the A. Roland Holst College) and studied Celtic Arts in Oxford from 1908 to 1911. Already at the age of twenty, he managed to publish poems in the literary magazine "De XXste Eeuw". In 1911, his debut appeared in book form, the bundle "Verzen". In his next bundles "The confession of silence" ("De belijdenis van de stilte") and "Beyond the roads" ("Voorbij de wegen") his own voice has already reached maturity. The verses reveal a romantic desire, from mythology and lofty solitude. "Deirdre and the sons of Usnach" ("Deirdre en de zonen van Usnach", 1920), which appeared in the bibliophile series Palladium, is a poetic story in a Celtic world. It is still widely read. In 1918, Roland Holst went to live in Bergen, where his house is now inhabited by various writers and poets in rotation. He had many literary friends, such as Menno ter Braak, J. C. Bloem, E. du Perron, J. Slauerhoff, M. Vasalis and Victor E. van Vriesland.
Works
Works
• Illustration — War memorial Stedemaagd by Jeanne Kouwenaar-Bijlo. There's a poem of Adriaan Roland Holst on the pedestal. • 1911 – Verzen • 1913 – De belijdenis van de stilte • 1920 – Deirdre en de zonen van Usnach • 1920 – Voorbij de wegen • 1925 – De afspraak • 1925 – De wilde kim • 1926 – Ex tenebris mundi: gedichten • 1926 – Over den dichter Leopold • 1928 – Het Elysisch verlangen (gevolgd door De zeetocht van Ban) • 1928 – Shelley, een afscheid • 1932 – Tusschen vuur en maan • 1936 – De pooltocht der verbeelding • 1936 – Voorteekens • 1937 – Een winter aan zee • 1938 – Uit zelfbehoud • 1940 – In memoriam Charles Edgar du Perron en Menno ter Braak • 1940 – Onderweg • 1943 – Voor West-Europa • 1945 – Een winterdageraad • 1945 – Eigen achtergronden • 1946 – In memoriam Herman Gorter • 1946 – Sirenische kunst • 1947 – De twee planeten • 1947 – Tegen de wereld • 1948 – In ballingschap • 1948 – Van erts tot arend • 1950 – Swordplay wordplay • 1951 – De dood van Cuchulainn van Murhevna • 1951 – Woest en moe • 1957 – Bezielde dorpen • 1958 – In gevaar • 1960 – Omtrent de grens • 1962 – Onder koude wolken • 1966 – Aan prinses Beatrix • 1967 – Kort • 1967 – Uitersten • 1968 – Vuur in sneeuw • 1970 – Met losse teugel • 1971 – Verzamelde gedichten • 1975 – In den verleden tijd
Identity
Identity
Adriaan Roland Holst is recorded as having received P.C. Hooft Award, Constantijn Huygens Prize and Dutch Literature Prize.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1888
Adriaan Roland Holst born at Amsterdam.
1976
Adriaan Roland Holst died at Bergen.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Amsterdam.
Birth place
Bergen.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2272398: Adriaan Roland Holst
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Adriaan Roland Holst”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
Literature
Scholarly footprint
A count of publications is evidence of attention, not of standing, and is given here only as a measure.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Nomination Database. nobelprize.org.
- 2.This is evident from: * A. Roland Holst: Briefwisseling met Richard en Henriette Roland Holst. De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam 1990. * A. Roland Holst: In den verleden tijd, herinneringen aan Lodewijk van Deyssel e.a.. Boelen, Amsterdam 1975. Here e.g. p. 22-24, 37-39 (where he refers to his aunt Henriette Roland Holst as "the" poet), 40-44. * H. Roland Holst – van der Schalk : Het vuur brandde voort. Levensherinneringen. Nijgh & Van Ditmar 1949, third and fourth print, improved based on the legacy of the author: De Arbeiderspers, Amsterdam 1979. Hierin p. 77, 115, 208. * E. Etty: Liefde is heel het leven niet, Henriette Roland Holst 1869-1952. Balans, Amsterdam 1996.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Adriaan Roland Holst received P.C. Hooft Award, Constantijn Huygens Prize, Dutch Literature Prize, Herman Gorterprijs, D.A. Thiemeprijs and Prijs van Amsterdam.
Recognition and collections
Work by Adriaan Roland Holst is
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Roland Holst, Adriaan, Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL), 2020
Roland Holst, Adriaan: Een winter aan zee, Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL), 2020
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,960 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Adonis GeorgiadesAuthor
- Adora SvitakAuthor
- Adriaan LoosjesAuthor
- Adriaan PoirtersAuthor
- Adriaan van DisAuthor
- Adriaan van RoomenAuthor
- Adrian Conan DoyleAuthor
- Adrian GoldsworthyAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Adriaan Roland Holst?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.