Writers

Anne Frank

Anne Frank lived from 1929 to 1945. She is famous throughout the world because of the diary she kept. Anne was a Jewish girl. During the Second World War, the Jews were persecuted by the Nazis, so Anne and her family had to go into hiding. In 1942, the family secretly moved into the back of a large house on one of the canals in Amsterdam. That is why the book of Anne’s diary is called: "The Secret Annex". The house where Anne and her family hid still exists today and is visited every year by hundreds of thousands of people. Anne died in a concentration camp. After the war her diary was found and translated into many languages.

Dick Bruna

Dick Bruna is a well-known Dutch children’s author and illustrator. His most famous character is a rabbit called Miffy. Bruna’s drawings are very simple and brightly coloured. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Of course, many other Dutch authors have written books for children. Maybe one day you’ll read a book by Thea Beckman, Guus Kuijer or Willy van Dorselaer. 

Inventors

A number of famous inventions also come from the Netherlands.

The CD was invented in the Netherlands. The Dutch electronics company Philips brought out the first CD in 1982.

Christiaan Huygens (1629-1695) is famous for inventing the pendulum clock. This is a clock that is driven by a hanging weight that swings back and forth.

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) invented the microscope. He built at least 500 of them, with copper or silver plates and lenses that he made himself. He also discovered bacteria.

Nobel Prize

Fifteen Dutch people have so far been awarded the Nobel Prize. They received this important international prize for their contribution to world peace or for research in physics, chemistry, medicine or economics. Tobias Asser, who helped create international law, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911. In 1999, Martinus Veltman and Gerard ’t Hoofd were rewarded for their very important research in physics.

Painters

Paintings by Dutch artists hang in museums all over the world. The Golden Age (1600-1700) was a very important period for Dutch painting, but there are many famous painters from later periods as well. Some of the best-known Dutch painters are Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Johannes Vermeer, Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian and Karel Appel.

Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890) lived and worked in the Netherlands, Belgium and France. He had a special style all of his own. His paintings and drawings are popular all over the world. There is a special museum in Amsterdam with paintings by Van Gogh.

Rembrandt van Rijn

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) was probably the greatest painter of the Golden Age. He was the son of a miller and lived and worked in Amsterdam. His house still exists today and has been turned into a museum. Rembrandt was famous in the Netherlands and abroad during his own lifetime. One of his best-known paintings is "The Night Watch". It hangs in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.