Simon Vestdijk
Simon Vestdijk (17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fifteen times.
Simon Vestdijk

unknown photographer (Elsevier Photo Collection) · GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL · Public domain
- Name
- Simon Vestdijk
- Born
- 17 October 1898
- Birthplace
- Harlingen, Netherlands
- Died
- 23 March 1971
- Place of death
- Utrecht, Netherlands
- Occupation
- * Novelist
- Movement
- Modernism
- Awards
- Constantijn Huygens Prize (1955)
- Nationality
- Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Education
- University of Amsterdam
- Known for
- Anton Wachter · De Koperen Tuin
- Honours
- P.C. Hooft Award · Dr. Wijnaendts Francken-prijs · Prose prize of the City of Amsterdam · Bijzondere prijs van de Jan Campert-Stichting · Essayprijs van de gemeente Amsterdam · Prijs voor Meesterschap
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Simon Vestdijk (17 October 1898 – 23 March 1971) was a Dutch writer. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature fifteen times.
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 Simon Vestdijk. 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 · Q437782 · wikipedia · Simon Vestdijk
In this article
Biography
Biography
Simon Vestdijk studied at University of Amsterdam. The recorded working language is Dutch. Works named in the authority record are Anton Wachter and De Koperen Tuin. Work by Simon Vestdijk is recorded in the collections of Museum De Scheper and Anne Frank House. Distinctions recorded are P.C. Hooft Award, Dr.

Adriaan Roland-Holst Simon Vestdijk. Opening exhibition Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (NL), 7 November 1958
Photo by Herbert Behrens (ANEFO) · GaHetNa (Nationaal Archief NL) 909-9603
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Simon Vestdijk • Born — 17 October 1898 • Birthplace — Harlingen, Netherlands • Died — 23 March 1971 • Place of death — Utrecht, Netherlands • Occupation — * Novelist • essayist • poet • translator • Period — 1930–1971 • Genre — * Historical novel • psychological novel • Movement — Modernism • Notable Works — * Back to Ina Damman • Anton Wachter Cycle (8 novels, 1934–1960) • The Garden Where the Brass Band Played • De kellner en de levenden • Awards — Constantijn Huygens Prize (1955) • Illustration — Statue of Simon Vestdijk in Doorn. Sculptor: Jaap te Kiefte.
Life
Life
Born in the small Frisian town of Harlingen, Vestdijk studied medicine in Amsterdam, but turned to literature after a few years as a doctor, including some time on board a ship. From 1932, he lived from literature. He became one of the most important 20th-century writers in the Netherlands. During the German occupation, he and other Dutch intellectuals were held hostage in Kamp Sint-Michielsgestel for some time, partly because they did not want to join the Chamber of Culture. After the war, he retired to Doorn (Utrecht province). Vestdijk struggled with severe depressions from his youth, and until the end of his life. His prolificness as a novelist was legendary (poet Adriaan Roland Holst saying of him that "he writes quicker than God can read"), but he was at least as important as an essayist on e.g., literature, religion, art, and music in particular. He also wrote much poetry and short stories. His work has been translated into several European languages. Some of his novels appeared as films in the cinema, or were broadcast on television.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1898
Simon Vestdijk born at Harlingen.
1971
Simon Vestdijk died at Utrecht.
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.
Harlingen.
Birth place
Utrecht.
Death place
Bibliography (books in English)
• Simon Vestdijk: On the poet Emily Dickinson. Transl. by Peter Twydell. Doorn, Mycenta Vitilis, 2002. (Orig. publ. in 1933) • Simon Vestdijk: The future of religion. Transl. by Jacob Faber. Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.M.I., out of print Books on Demand, 1989. (translation of De toekomst der religie, orig. publ. in 1947) • Simon Vestdijk: Back to Ina Damman radio-play adaptation of the novel by Simon Vestdijk; adaptation: Marc Lohmann. (Transl. of an adaptation of the novel Terug tot Ina Damman. Hilversum, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting, 1988. No ISBN • S. Vestdijk: The garden where the brass band played. Translation by A. Brotherton of the novel De koperen tuin, with an introduction by Hella S. Haasse. London, Quartet Books, 1992.. Other editions: New York, New Amsterdam, 1989.; Leyden/London/New York, 1965. No ISBN • Emily Dickinson: Gedichten. Transl. by S. Vestdijk. Den Haag, Bert Bakker, 1969. • Emily Dickinson: Selected poems. (Chosen by Simon Vestdijk). Amsterdam, Balkema, 1940 (=1944) • Simon Vestdijk: Rum Island, Transl. by B.K. Bowes of the novel Rumeiland. London, John Calder, 1963 • Simon Vestdijk: My brown friend & Miodrag Bulatović: Lovers & Keith Johnstone: The return & Robert Pinget: La manivelle. The old tune (English adapt. by Samuel Beckett). London, Calder, 1962
Recognition and collections
Where the work is held
Recognition and collections
Simon Vestdijk received P.C. Hooft Award, Dr. Wijnaendts Francken-prijs, Prose prize of the City of Amsterdam, Bijzondere prijs van de Jan Campert-Stichting, Essayprijs van de gemeente Amsterdam and Prijs voor Meesterschap.
Documents and archives
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q437782: Simon Vestdijk
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
- “Simon Vestdijk”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
scholarly publication
- Vestdijk, Simon: De koperen tuin, Kindlers Literatur Lexikon (KLL), 2020
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2020
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Verifiedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q437782: Simon VestdijkWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
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.
- Simon ScarrowAuthor
- Simon SchamaAuthor
- Simon Sebag MontefioreAuthor
- Simon SimonianAuthor
- Simon VinkenoogAuthor
- Simon VratsianAuthor
- Simon WinchesterAuthor
- Simon-Joseph PellegrinAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Simon Vestdijk?
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.