Hans Heyting (13 August 1918 â€" 9 June 1992), born Johannes
Heijting[1] was a Dutch poet, playwright, radio personality,
children's book writer and painter. Writing in Drèents (except for
his Dutch-language children's books and some poems in Dutch), he was
one of the earliest Drèents writers to express personal themes and is
considered to have been "the first true, modern Drèents poet who
innovated old forms and showed new ways".[2]Heyting was born along the
Beilervaart, not far from the village of Beilen. He and his three
sisters grew up in a poor family of gereformeerd (reformed) creed. His
father was a clogmaker and poached on the side to add to the family
income; in his spare time he painted and drew. Reflected on his
father's artistic activity, Hans noted that he "painted small
landscapes, very primitively, with brushes made of his own hair. When
he'd been to the barber, he took tufts of hair with him. Ja! None of
his work was kept."[3]When he was about ten, his father died; he and
his sister found the body. From this point on, Heyting - who detested
the suffocating atmosphere at the reformed school - became alienated
from his surroundings. He remarked on his faith that he was taught: "I
felt God was spying on me all day long. At night I sensed an angel
standing by the bed. I was terrified because I could feel the draught
of his wings beating."[4] Around this time he met his later fellow
Drèents poet, Roel Reijntjes, who was also from Beilen.Heyting was
expelled from vocational school in Hoogeveen for blowing up the
bicycle shed with a homemade bomb. Various contacts outside his family
caused the rift between him and his background to grow; later he would
cut the ties completely. He worked as an electrician's apprentice and
a paperboy for some time.
Heijting[1] was a Dutch poet, playwright, radio personality,
children's book writer and painter. Writing in Drèents (except for
his Dutch-language children's books and some poems in Dutch), he was
one of the earliest Drèents writers to express personal themes and is
considered to have been "the first true, modern Drèents poet who
innovated old forms and showed new ways".[2]Heyting was born along the
Beilervaart, not far from the village of Beilen. He and his three
sisters grew up in a poor family of gereformeerd (reformed) creed. His
father was a clogmaker and poached on the side to add to the family
income; in his spare time he painted and drew. Reflected on his
father's artistic activity, Hans noted that he "painted small
landscapes, very primitively, with brushes made of his own hair. When
he'd been to the barber, he took tufts of hair with him. Ja! None of
his work was kept."[3]When he was about ten, his father died; he and
his sister found the body. From this point on, Heyting - who detested
the suffocating atmosphere at the reformed school - became alienated
from his surroundings. He remarked on his faith that he was taught: "I
felt God was spying on me all day long. At night I sensed an angel
standing by the bed. I was terrified because I could feel the draught
of his wings beating."[4] Around this time he met his later fellow
Drèents poet, Roel Reijntjes, who was also from Beilen.Heyting was
expelled from vocational school in Hoogeveen for blowing up the
bicycle shed with a homemade bomb. Various contacts outside his family
caused the rift between him and his background to grow; later he would
cut the ties completely. He worked as an electrician's apprentice and
a paperboy for some time.
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