Joseph Luns
5th Secretary General of NATO
In office October 1, 1971 – June 25, 1984
Preceded by	Manlio Brosio
Succeeded by	The Lord Carrington
Member of the House of Representatives
In office May 11, 1971 – October 1, 1971
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office September 2, 1952 – July 6, 1971 Serving with Johan Willem Beyen (1952-1956)
Prime Minister	Willem Drees (1956-1958) Louis Beel (1958-1959) Jan de Quay (1959-1963) Victor Marijnen (1963-1965) Jo Cals (1965-1966) Jelle Zijlstra (1966-1967) Piet de Jong (1967-1971)
Preceded by	Johan Willem Beyen
Succeeded by	Norbert Schmelzer
Member of the House of Representatives
In office February 23, 1967 – April 5, 1967
Member of the House of Representatives
In office July 3, 1956 – October 3, 1956
Personal details
Born	Joseph Antoine Marie Hubert Luns [1] (1911-08-28)August 28, 1911 Rotterdam, Netherlands
Died	July 17, 2002(2002-07-17) (aged 90) Brussels, Belgium
Nationality	Dutch
Political party	National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (1933-1936) Roman-Catholic State Party (1938-1945) Catholic People's Party (1945-1974)
Spouse(s)	Lia van Heemstra (m. 1939)
Alma mater	Leiden University (LL.B.) University of Amsterdam (LL.M.) London School of Economics (BEc)
Occupation	Politician Diplomat Civil Servant
Religion	Traditionalist Catholic

Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns (August 28, 1911 – July 17, 2002) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA). He was the longest-serving Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs from September 2, 1952 until July 6, 1971 and later became the 5th (and also longest-serving) Secretary General of NATO for 13 years from October 1, 1971 until June 25, 1984.

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Joseph Luns was born in a Roman Catholic, francophile and artistic family. His mother’s family originated from Alsace-Lorraine and had moved to Belgium after the annexation of the region by the German Reich in 1871. His father Huib Luns was a versatile artist and a gifted educationalist, who ended his career as professor of architectural drawing at the Technical University of Delft.^[2] Luns got his secondary education in Amsterdam and Brussels. He opted to become a commissioned officer of the Dutch Royal Navy, but registered too late to be selected. Therefore, Luns decided to study law at Amsterdam University during the period 1932-1937. Like his father, Luns demonstrated a preference for conservative and authoritarian political parties and an interest in international politics. As a young student he positioned himself on the political right, favoring a strong authority for the state and being of the opinion that socialism, due to its idealistic ideology, had fostered the rising of fascism and nazism. Luns himself had been a silent member of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands (NSB), but left in 1936 before this party chose a strongly anti-semitic course.^[3]

His choice for a diplomatic career was inspired by his father. He joined the Dutch Diplomatic Service in 1938 and after a two year assignment at the Private Office of the Foreign Minister he was appointed as attaché in Bern (Switzerland) in 1940 and in late 1941 he moved to Lisbon (Portugal). In both countries he was involved in assistance to Dutch refugees, political espionage and counterintelligence. In 1943 he was transferred to the Dutch embassy in London. Ambassador E. Michiels van Verduynen discovered Luns' great affinity for the political element in international affairs and entrusted him with important files on Germany which Luns handled with great skill.^[4]

In 1949 Luns was appointed as deputy Dutch permanent representative to the United Nations. He worked closely with his new chief D. Von Balluseck, a political appointee without diplomatic experience. After the Netherlands became a member of the Security Council he temporarily chaired the Disarmament Commission. Luns was sceptical of the importance of the United Nations for international peace, believing it at times to be more like a forum for propaganda than a center for solving international conflicts. Still, he was of opinion that it was worthwhile to keep the UN in shape because it was the sole international organisation which offered opportunities for discussions between all states.^[5]

Minister of Foreign Affairs (1952-1971)[link]

Due to the tenacity of the Dutch Catholic People's Party to occupy the Foreign Ministry after the 1952 elections, Luns entered Dutch politics as the favorite of its political leader Romme. His co-Minister was Johan Willem Beyen, an international banker, not affiliated to any political party, but protégé of Queen Juliana. The two ministers had a completely different style of operating and clashed even before the end of 1952. However, they accommodated and avoided future conflicts by a very strict division of labour. Luns was responsible for bilateral relations, Benelux and international organisations. After the 1956 elections Beyen left office and Luns stayed as Foreign Minister until 1971 in both center-left and center-right governments. Bilateral relations with Indonesia and the Federal Republic of Germany, security policy and European integration were the most important issues during his tenure.

Atlantic cooperation was a fundamental aspect of Luns’ foreign policy, and Dutch foreign policy in general. In the opinion of Luns, Western Europe could not survive the Cold War without American nuclear security and he therefore promoted strong and intensified political and military cooperation in NATO. Luns accepted American leadership of the Atlantic Alliance as such but expected better cooperation between the United States and its allies, since, in Luns’ opinion, the former too often acted independently of its allies, particularly in decolonisation issues.^[6] Although a great supporter of Atlantic cooperation, Luns could also be critical of U.S. foreign policy and in bilateral relations he defended Dutch national interests strongly, as well as expecting American support in the bilateral difficulties with Indonesia.

In 1952 Luns expected to improve relations with Indonesia without transferring the disputed area of West New Guinea to the former colony. By 1956 however, this policy had proved ineffectual, while Luns and the Dutch government were still determined not to transfer West New Guinea to the Republic of Indonesia. When in 1960 it became obvious that allied support for this policy, particularly from the United States, was waning, Luns tried to find an intermediate solution by transferring the administration of the territory to the United Nations, yet this attempt to keep West New Guinea out of Indonesian hands failed as well. After difficult negotiations the area was finally transferred to the Republic of Indonesia in 1963 after a short interim administration of the UN. Despite his personal anger over this outcome, which was considered a personal defeat by Luns, the foreign minister nevertheless worked to restore relations with Indonesia in the aftermath of the West New Guinea problem.

Luns was more successful in the normalisation of the bilateral relations with the Federal Republic of Germany. Luns shared Dutch public opinion in demanding that Germany recognize the damage it had caused during the Second World War, furthermore a mea culpa required. He demanded that, before any negotiations on other bilateral disputes could start, the amount of damages to be paid to Dutch war victims would be agreed upon. During the final stages of the negatotiations on bilateral disputes between the two countries, Luns decided to come to an arrangement with his German colleague on his own accord. He made concessions and because of this the Dutch parliament threatened not to ratify the agreement. With the full support of the government however, Luns was able to overcome the crisis.^[7]

European integration was permanently on Luns’ political agenda. Beyen had introduced the concept of the European Economic Community. In March 1957 Luns signed the Treaties of Rome establishing the EEC and Euratom. Although he preferred integration of a wider group of European states he accepted the group of Six of the EEC and defended the supranational structure it was based on. The endeavours of French president Charles de Gaulle to subordinate the institutions of the Six to a intergovernmental political structure, could count on strong opposition from Luns: such plans would, in his view, only serve French ambitions of a Europe independent of the United States.

Initially Luns stood alone and he was afraid that French-German cooperation would result in anti-Atlantic and anti-American policies which harmed the interests of the West. He made British membership of the European institutions conditional for his political cooperation. Gradually his views on Gaullist foreign policies were shared by the other EEC members and they joined Luns in his objections. Two of De Gaulle’s decisions stiffened the opposition: first, his denial of EEC membership to the United Kingdom in January 1963; secondly, France’s retreat from the integrated military structure of NATO in 1966. Luns played a vital role in the negotiations unwinding French participation and continuing its political membership of the Alliance. By that time Luns had internationally established his reputation as an able and reliable negotiator and was seen as an important asset in London and Washington. After the retreat of De Gaulle in 1968, the EEC Summit of The Hague in December 1969 ended the long crisis of the EEC integration process, opened the way to British membership and agreed on new venues for political cooperation, a common market and monetary union.

Throughout his years as Dutch foreign minister, Luns had gained an international status uncommon for a foreign minister of a small country. He owed this to his personal style in which duress, a high level of information, political leniency and diplomatic skills were combined with wit, galant conversation and the understanding that diplomacy was a permanent process of negotiations in which a victory should never be celebrated too exuberantly at the cost of the loser.

NATO Secretary-General (1971-1984)[link]

In 1971, Luns was appointed as NATO Secretary-General. At the time of his appointment, public protests against American policies in Vietnam were vehiment throughout Western Europe and among European politicians the credibility of the American nuclear protection was in doubt. Though there were initial doubts about Luns’ skills for the job he soon proved that he was capable of managing the alliance in crisis. He regarded himself as the spokesman of the alliance and he aimed at balancing the security and political interests of the alliance as a whole.

Luns was in favor of negotitiating with the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact members on the reduction of armaments, on the condition that the Western defence was kept in shape during such negotiations. European members of NATO, according to Luns, should understand that the United States carried international responsibilities while the latter should understand that in-depth consultation with the European governments was conditional to forging a united front on the international stage, which could be accepted and endorsed by all members of NATO. U.S.-Soviet negotiations on mutual troop reductions and the strategic nuclear arsenal caused severe tensions. Luns convinced American leaders that it undermined the credibility in Western Europe of their nuclear strategy by neglecting European fears of a change of strategy which would leave Europe unprotected in case of a Soviet nuclear attack. The modernization of the tactical nuclear forces by the introduction of the neutron bomb and cruise missiles caused deep divisions. In the end Luns succeeded in keeping NATO together in the so called Double-Track Decision of December 1979.^[8] The deployment of these new weapon systems was linked to success in American-Soviet arms reduction talks.

It was also the duty of the Secretary-General to mediate in cause of conflicts within the alliance. He was successful in the conflict between Great Britain and Iceland, the so-called Second Cod War, not by pressuring the Icelandic government to end its aggressive behaviour against British trawlers, but by convincing the British government that it had to take the first step by calling back its destroyers in order to open the way to negotiations. Luns failed however in the conflict between Greece and Turkey over the territorial boundaries and Cyprus. Due to lack of cooperation on both sides Luns was unable to mediate or advice on procedures to find a wayout.

Luns retired as Secretary-General in 1984, staying in office for a full 13 years. Because of the changes the 1960s and 1970s had brought to Dutch society and culture, the strongly conservative Luns decided not to return to his home country but settled in Brussels to spend his remaining years in retirement.^[9] Joseph Luns died on July 17, 2002, aged 90.

Trivia[link]

• Luns remained a practicing Catholic throughout his life and was generally sympathetic to the traditionalist Catholic position, although he never affiliated himself with dissident groups. Luns did visit the Tridentine Mass held by the assumptionist priest Winand Kotte, who opposed the modernising policies of the Second Vatican Council, in the Saint Wilibrord Church of Utrecht in August 1971. This seems to have been something of a misunderstanding on Luns' part however, who had never heard of Kotte's anti-Second Council movement and did not wish to be affiliated with it.^[10]
• Luns was awarded many high-ranking awards during his lifetime, among them the Grand Cross of the Légion d’Honneur in 1954, Member of Order of Companions of Honour of the British Queen in 1971 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President Ronald Reagan in 1984.^[11]
• His favourite reading material included classical literature, history books (Luns was an expert on the history of the Napoleonic era) and detective novels, while due to his interests in international navies, the latest edition of Jane’s Fighting Ships was always within reach in his office.
• Luns was an avid stamp collector.
• Luns' spouse Baroness Lia van Heemstra was a niece of baroness Ella van Heemstra, the mother of actress Audrey Hepburn.

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Dutch) Mr. J.M.A.H. (Joseph) Luns (Parlement & Politiek)
• Biography on NATO

v t e Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Schimmelpenninck | Bentinck van Nijenhuis | Lightenvelt | Van Sonsbeeck | Ja. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Van Hall | Gevers van Endegeest | Van Goltstein | Van Hall | Ju. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Van der Goes van Dirxland | Ja. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Strens | Stratenus | Van der Maesen de Sombreff | Huyssen van Kattendijke | Cremers | Ju. van Zuylen van Nijevelt | Van Mulken | Roest van Limburg | Van Mulken | Gericke van Herwijnen | Van der Does de Willebois | Van Heeckeren van Kell | Van Lynden van Sandenburg | Rochussen | Van der Does de Willebois | Du Tour van Bellinchave | Van Karnebeek | Hartsen | Van Tienhoven | Jansen | Röell | De Beaufort | Van Lynden | Ellis | Van Weede van Berencamp | Ellis | Van Tets van Goudriaan | De Marees van Swinderen | Cort van der Linden | Loudon | Van Karnebeek | Beelaerts van Blokland | De Graeff | Ruijs de Beerenbrouck | Colijn | Patijn | Van Kleffens | Van Roijen | Van Boetzelaer van Oosterhout | Stikker | Beyen | Luns | Schmelzer | Van der Stoel | Van der Klaauw | Van der Stoel | Van Agt | Van den Broek | Kooijmans | Van Mierlo | Van Aartsen | De Hoop Scheffer | Bot | Verhagen | Rosenthal

Wim Kan
Birth name	Willem Cornelis Kan
Born	(1911-01-15)January 15, 1911 Scheveningen, Netherlands
Died	September 8, 1983(1983-09-08) (aged 72) Nijmegen, Netherlands
Medium	Stand-up, Comedian
Nationality	Dutch
Years active	1931–1983
Genres	Cabaret, Satire, Interactive theatre, Political theatre
Influenced	Youp van 't Hek
Spouse	Corry Vonk (1901-1988)

Willem Cornelis "Wim" Kan (January 15, 1911 - September 8, 1983) was a Dutch cabaret artist. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Sonneveld, he is considered to be one of the Great Three of Dutch cabaret.^[1][2]

In 1933 Wim Kan married cabaret star Corry Vonk and in 1936 together they established the ABC Cabaret, which soon became one of the most successful Dutch cabaret groups, in which several artists debuted who later became famous.

In 1940 the ABC Cabaret was touring the Dutch East Indies, and because of the German invasion could not return to the Netherlands. After the Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies, Wim Kan and his wife were deported to camps at the Burma Railway. Because of his experiences at these camps he later agitated against Hirohito's visit to the Netherlands in 1971.

Wim Kan is possibly best known as the originator of the tradition of the so-called "Oudejaarsconferences". These are performances of political cabaret on (or around) New Year's Eve, discussing the events of the past year. Wim Kan made the first oudejaarsconference in 1954, broadcasted through radio. His first televised oudejaarsconference was in 1973, scoring an audience measurement of 75% and record appreciations rating of 8.8 (out of 10). Although he actually made only 5 television conferences (1973, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982), they made such an impact that many people remember it as a yearly tradition. Many politicians had worries about what Wim Kan would say about them, but it was considered that the worst thing that could happen to them was that they were not mentioned at all - this was taken as a sign that a politician's career was over.

External link[link]

• De Wim Kan Pagina: New Years Eve cabarets, historical audio, and quotes, in cooperation with the Dutch World Broadcaster (Radio Nederland Wereldomroept).

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (July 2011)

This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Dutch Wikipedia. (June 2011) Don't speak Dutch? Click here to read a machine-translated version of the Dutch article. Click [show] on the right to review important translation instructions before translating. Google's machine translation is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into English Wikipedia. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article. After translating, {{Translated|nl|Huub Stapel}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance. For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

Huub Stapel

Hubertus Wijnandus Jozef Marie (Huub) Stapel (Tegelen, 2 December 1954) is a Dutch actor. He is especially known from the films De Lift (1983), Flodder (1986) and Amsterdamned (1988) by Dick Maas. He also appeared in the Golden Earring video When the Lady Smiles.

Movies[link]

Dutch productions[link]

• Sint (2010) - Saint Nicholas
• Iep! (2010) - Warre
• Terug naar de kust (2009)- Victor
• Het Wapen van Geldrop (2008) - Piet Veerman
• Alles is Liefde (2007) - unknown
• Flikken Maastricht Televisieserie - Geert Veldkamp (Afl., Kogelvis, 2007)
• SEXtet (2007) - Bram
• Oberon televisieserie - C (2005)
• Johan (2005) - Rinus Dros
• De Dominee (2004) - Father to Klaas
• Klem in de draaideur (2003) - Dato Steenhuis
• Verder dan de maan (2003) - Mees Werner sr.
• Van God Los (2003) - Herbert Meijer
• De vloer op televisieserie - several parts (sinds 2002)
• 'n Stukje humor (2002) - Gerard
• Het achterland (televisiefilm, 2001) - Alex
• De Nacht van Aalbers (televisiefilm, 2001) - unknown
• Loenatik televisieserie - Automonteur (Afl., De milieuactie, 2001)
• Dial 9 for Love (2001) - Pieter
• Wet & Waan televisieserie - Herman Vlieger (10 episodes in season 1, 2000 & 10 episodes in season 2, 2003)
• Oh oh Den Haag televisieserie - Wim van Tol (2000)
• Rent a Friend (2000) - Mr. Bloedworst
• Retour Den Haag (televisiefilm, 1999) - Ed. van Thijn
• Flodder televisieserie - Paolo (Afl., Egotrip, 1998)
• Mortinho por Chegar a Casa (1996) - Joris
• De Zeemeerman (1996) - Timo Babel
• Walhalla (1995) - Raymond de Feyter
• De Partizanen (Mini-serie, 1995) - Hendrik
• Hoffman's honger (1993) - Baruch Spinoza
• Oog in oog televisieserie - Peter Gubbels (Afl. onbekend, 1992)
• Flodder in Amerika! (1992) - Johnnie Flodder
• Sjans televisieserie - Sjaak Massini (1992-1993)
• Oh Boy! (1991) - Boy in sports café
• De onfatsoenlijke vrouw (1991) - Leon
• Amsterdamned (1988) - Eric Visser
• Het Twentsch Paradijs (televisiefilm, 1988)
• Flodder (1986) - Johnnie Flodder
• Op hoop van zegen (1986) - Geert
• Maria (1986) - Paolo Pietrosanti
• De Dream (1985) - Inspector of police
• De Schorpioen (1984) - Vaandrig
• De lift (1983) - Felix Adelaar
• De Zwarte Ruiter (1983) - Floor
• De Weg televisieserie - unknown (1983)
• Willem van Oranje (mini series, 1983), remake of the 1934 film Willem van Oranje (film) - François-Hercule de Valois
• Van de koele meren des doods (1982) - Herman
• Het meisje met het rode haar (1981) - NSB member

German productions[link]

• Eisfieber (2010) - Harry Mac
• Mein Herz in Chile (2008) (televisiefilm) - Herbert Hansen
• Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei Televisieserie - Sander Kalvus (Afl., Auf eigene Faust, 2008)
• Donna Roma Televisieserie - Konstantin (4 afl., 2007)
• Verrückt nach Clara televisieserie - Bernd (7 afl., 2007)
• Unter Verdacht televisieserie - Stewens (Afl., Ein neues Leben, 2006)
• M.E.T.R.O. – Ein Team auf Leben und Tod televisieserie - Magnus van Royen (Afl., Krim-Kongo, 2006)
• SOKO Kitzbühel televisieserie - Henrik van Huisen (Afl., Magischer Mord, 2006)
• Sperling televisieserie - Johan Kerkman (Afl., Sperling und der Fall Wachutka, 2005)
• Das beste Jahr meines Lebens (televisiefilm, 2005) - Niklas Vandenberg
• Die andere Frau (televisiefilm, 2004) - Henk
• Das Duo televisieserie - Helmut Felser (Afl., Im falschen Leben, 2002)
• Auf Herz und Nieren (2001) - Nemeth
• Auf Schmalem Grat (televisiefilm, 2000) - Joachim Behrens
• Late Show (1999) - Bank manager
• Tatort televisieserie - Uli Lischka (Afl., Offene Rechnung, 1999)
• Ein starkes Team televisieserie - Milan Petkowicz (Afl., Braunauge, 1999)
• Die Neue - Eine Frau mit Kaliber televisieserie - Vandeberg (Afl., Stille Nacht, tödliche Nacht, 1998)
• Hauptsache Leben (televisiefilm, 1998) - Dominik
• Kai Rabe gegen die Vatikankiller (1998) - Karl Bresser
• Widows - Erst die Ehe, dann das Vergnügen (1998) - Konrad Sommer
• Eine ungehorsame Frau (televisiefilm, 1998) - David
• Knocking on Heaven's Door (1997) - Frankie 'Boy' Beluga
• Der Schutzengel (televisiefilm, 1997) - Peter Becker
• Stockinger televisieserie - Dr. Paolo van Voorst (Afl., Undschuldslämmer, 1996)
• Zockexpress (1991) - Dany
• In the Shadow of the Sandcastle (1990) - unknown
• Die kurve kriegen (1985) - Jan

Flemish productions[link]

• Oh no! It's a woman. (2010, film)
• Windkracht 10 (serie, 1997-1998) - Sergeant Dirk de Groot (diver in first series)

French production[link]

• Vertige pour un tueur (1970) - unknown

US production[link]

• The Attic: The Hiding of Anne Frank (televisiefilm, 1988) - Jan Gies

Theatre[link]

• Napoleon on St. Helena - Napoleon Bonaparte
• Harold & Maude
• Vrijen [stichting D.R.A.M.]
• Onder het Melkwoud [stichting D.R.A.M]
• Moordspel [with Ton Lensink]
• Democraten (as Willy Brandt)
• Eten met vrienden (for this part he was nominated for a Louis d'Or)
• Mephisto
• Kentering van een huwelijk
• Art [with Victor Löw & Sjoerd Pleijsier]
• Mannen komen van Mars, Vrouwen van Venus
• De Kus (2010) (with Carine Crutzen)

Television programmes[link]

• Stapel op auto's
• Stapel in de States
• Oberon (reality series by TROS & Eén) as the counselor
• Stapel op Werk (for Limburgish television)
• Het gesprek, S.T.A.P.E.L (2007)
• De vloer op (2005)
• Nina Nazarova aan de top! (2010)

External links[link]

• Huub Stapel at the Internet Movie Database
• Huub Stapel at the New York Times Movies & TV

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Gerard Reve
Gerard Reve in 1969
Born	14 December 1923 Amsterdam, Netherlands
Died	8 April 2006 (aged 82) Zulte, Belgium
Pen name	Simon van het Reve
Occupation	Writer
Nationality	Dutch
Genres	novels, short stories, poems, letters, speeches
Subjects	Revist, Revism

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2008)

Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (14 December 1923, Amsterdam, Netherlands – 8 April 2006, Zulte, Belgium) was a Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon van het Reve and adopted the shorter Gerard Reve in 1973.^[1] Together with Willem Frederik Hermans and Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war literature. His 1981 novel De vierde man (The Fourth Man) was the basis for Paul Verhoeven's 1983 film.

Reve was one of the first homosexuals to come out in the Netherlands.^[2] He often wrote explicitly about erotic attraction, sexual relations and intercourse between men, which many readers considered to be shocking. However, he did this in an ironic, humorous and recognizable way, which contributed to making homosexuality acceptable for many of his readers. Another main theme, often in combination with eroticism, was religion. Reve himself declared that the primary message in all of his work was salvation from the material world we live in.

Themes[link]

He often insisted that homosexuality was merely a motif (providing idiom — as Roman Catholicism based phrases would differ from e.g. Buddhist wording — and, over time, idiosyncratic Reve-slang) in his work, the deeper theme being the inadequacy of human love (as opposed to divine love). Since the publication of "Op weg naar het einde" (Towards the end) (1963) and "Nader tot U" (Nearer to Thee) (1966), marking his breakthrough to a large audience, he articulated his views on God's creation and human fate, especially in the many collections of letters that he published.

These writings stress a symbolic, rather than ("...only the blind...") literal, understanding of religious texts as the only intellectually acceptable one, and the irrelevance of the Gospel's historical truth. Religion, according to Reve, has nothing to do with the literal, the factual, the moral or the political. It has no quarrel with modern science, because religious truths and empirical facts are in different realms. The observable world has no meaning beyond comparing facts, and, while revelation may not make sense, it has meaning, and it is this meaning that Reve was after in everything he wrote. Philosophically, Reve was influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer, whose works he re-read every winter, and even more so by Carl Jung, according to a Dutch painter who spent some time with the author in France to paint several portraits of him.^[3]

Reve's erotic prose deals partly with his own sexuality, but aims at something more universal. Reve's work often depicts sexuality as ritual. Many scenes bear a sado-masochistic character, but this is never meant as an end in itself. 'Revism', a term coined by him, can roughly be described as consecrating sexual acts of punishment, dedicating these acts to revered others, and, ultimately, to higher entities (God). This is again a quest for higher significance in a human act (sex) that is devoid of meaning in its material form.

Style[link]

His style combines the formal (in the kind of language one would find in a seventeenth-century Bible) with the colloquial, in a highly recognisable way. Similarly, his humour and often paradoxical view of the world relies on the contrast between exalted mysticism and common sense. The irony that pervades his work and his tendency towards extreme statements has caused confusion among readers. Many doubted the sincerity of his conversion to Catholicism, although Reve remained adamant about the truthfulness of his faith, claiming his right to individual notions about religion and his personal experience of it.

Controversies[link]

Reve's literary career was marked by many controversies. Early on, the Dutch ministry of culture intervened when Reve was to receive a grant, citing the obscene nature of his work.

A member of the Dutch senate, the Calvinist senator Hendrik Algra, spoke on the same subject in a plenary debate. That was the beginning of a string of scandals that didn't stop until the Belgian king Albert refused to hand out a literary prize to Reve when his partner had been charged with indecencies with minors. Reve sometimes welcomed the publicity, but also complained about his continual struggle with the authorities, public opinion and the press.

Gerard Reve was prosecuted in 1966 for allegedly breaking a law against blasphemy. In Nader tot U he describes the narrator's love-making to God, a visitor to his house incarnated in a one-year-old mouse-grey donkey. In April 1968 he was acquitted by the High Council.

Reve came from a communist and atheistic family, but converted to Roman Catholicism.^[4] He was a very liberal Roman Catholic, and his ridiculing of some aspects of Catholicism led to tensions in the Dutch Roman Catholic community in the 1960s. Nevertheless, he contributed as a literary advisor to a new Catholic Bible translation, the 'Willibrord' translation.

One of Reve's main themes, along with religion and love, is his intense hatred of communism, its regimes and the tolerance toward it in leftist circles in the western world.

In 1975, he appeared at a Dutch poetry festival, wearing (among other things, a crucifix and peace symbol) a swastika as well as a hammer and sickle on his clothes, and read a poem that spoke of immigration in racist terms, though stressing cultural differences and using "zwart" (black) rather than "neger/nikker" (negro/nigger), in a solemn language that insulted many people, especially creoles from Surinam, many of whom had arrived recently on the eve of the decolonization of Surinam that was to take place in November 1975.

This event led to much controversy, and many people have since wondered whether Reve had lost his mind, or had been alluding to something else. In the face of a wave of criticism Reve did not move an inch, and his claims of being 'too intelligent to be a racist' and never wanting to inflict any harm on any racial grounds partly got lost in the confusion generated by his ever-present irony.

In 2001, he was awarded the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren, the most prestigious prize for Dutch-language authors, but King Albert II of Belgium refused to present it to him because his partner had been accused of pedophilia. The money was awarded by bank transfer and the certificate delivered.^[1][5][6]

During the last years of his life, he began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and he succumbed to it on 8 April 2006 at the age of 82.

Gerard Reve was the brother of the Slavicist and essayist Karel van het Reve, who became a staunch anti-communist in his own way; however, the personal rapport between the brothers was not good. They broke up altogether in the 1980s.

Honors[link]

• 2001: Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren^[1]

Bibliography[link]

Grave of Gerard Reve

Graphic Novel[link]

In 2003 and 2004 the novel De avonden (The evenings, 1947) was made into a graphic novel (in 4 parts) by Dick Matena

In English[link]

• The Acrobat (Written in English, 1956)
• Parents Worry (Bezorgde ouders, 1990)

See also[link]

• NRC's Best Dutch novels

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Koopmans, Joop W. and Huussen, A. H., ed. (2007). "Reve, Gerard Kornelis van het (1923–2006)". Historical Dictionary of the Netherlands. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow. pp. 191–92. http://books.google.com/books?id=RZmk_G1JXbMC&pg=PA191#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
2. ^ Wood, Robert (2002), "Reve, Gerard", glbtq.com, http://www.glbtq.com/literature/reve_g.html, retrieved 2007-10-24 
3. ^ Emoverkerk.nl
4. ^ Dutch and Flemish Literature
5. ^ Osborn, Andrew (2001-11-26). "Dutch book prize kept from winner". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/nov/26/books.internationaleducationnews. 
6. ^ "Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren na 11 jaar weer eens voor een Vlaming" (in Dutch). Boekendingen.nl. 2012-04-26. http://www.boekendingen.nl/wp-nieuws/?p=10416/. Retrieved 2012-05-29. 

External links[link]

• (Dutch) NaderTotReve.nl
• ErikWeijers.nl (analysis and quotes, in English, of Old and lonely - the not yet translated 1978 book)
• KlaasKoppe.nl (Photos)

Paul de Leeuw
Born	Paul Henri de Leeuw (1962-03-26) March 26, 1962 (age 50) Rotterdam, Netherlands
Residence	Blaricum, Netherlands
Nationality	Dutch
Occupation	Actor, comedian, singer, television presenter
Employer	VARA
Spouse	Stephan Nugter
Children	Kas and Tobey (both adopted)
Website
www.pauldeleeuw.nl

Paul Henri de Leeuw (born March 26, 1962 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch television comedian, singer and actor.

De Leeuw gained national fame in the late eighties and early nineties with television shows for broadcasting company VARA. Though satire was only a part of these shows and much of its humour was essentially harmless, he came into publicity with satire about Dutch show business personalities who were often ridiculed. Besides, many obscure musical acts were featured in his shows, many of which managed to gain national fame after they had been in De Leeuw's show (e.g. Twarres and René Klijn, a former boyband member who contracted AIDS).^{[citation needed]} VARA has since continued his shows apart from a few interruptions, often with considerable success.

In the early nineties, Paul de Leeuw also had some shows celebrating the new year. In the 1993-1994 show he satirized the new commercial television station RTL 5 by announcing another new station, "RTL 6" (RTL six, beter dan niks (lit. better than nothing)). This led to a lawsuit by the RTL company, who demanded that De Leeuw withdraw his joke.

He and his husband, Stephan Nugter, have adopted two children: son Kas (adopted in October 2001) and son Tobey (adopted in December 2002).

Paul de Leeuw has had many hit singles in The Netherlands.^{[citation needed]} He is most famous for: Vlieg met me mee (#2), Ik wil niet dat je liegt / Waarheen, waarvoor (#1), and 'k Heb je lief (#3). Since the beginning of his television and singing career he released albums and singles, always becoming a big success.

On Koninginnedag 2007 he was made a Knight of the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

25th Anniversary[link]

Paul de Leeuw until mid-2009 hosted the weekly chat and comedy show Mooi! Weer De Leeuw. On November 29, 2008 he celebrated his 25th television anniversary by staging a 12-hour marathon. Not forgetting the reason Mooi! Weer De Leeuw happened, he invited his one-time collaborator Jack Spijkerman (whose Kopspijkers-show previously filled the Mooi! Weer De Leeuw time slot, before a row prompted VARA to cancel it with immediate effect) to reprise one item from Kopspijkers; other guests included comedians Herman van Veen and Brigitte Kaandorp, and singer/musical actor Danny de Munk.

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 incident[link]

De Leeuw is, despite being famous for a long time in the Netherlands, best-known internationally for presenting the results of the Dutch televote in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. De Leeuw was supposed to present the televote by simply thanking the presenters, performers and fans, before giving the result, but instead the openly gay De Leeuw gave his mobile number to the male presenter Sakis Rouvas live on-air, and made other comments which somewhat lengthened the Dutch results.^[1]

De Leeuw also remarked that Rouvas and his female co-presenter Maria Menounos reminded him of Will & Grace. As the results were live and required for the contest to continue, De Leeuw could not be cut off until he finished giving the voting results.

De Leeuw's actions resulted in negative comments from the commentators, with the BBC's Terry Wogan calling the act "pathetic" and asking "Who selected this eejit?" during the United Kingdom coverage of the contest. Other commentators, like the Portuguese Eládio Clímaco, didn't translate properly the gay remarks and said "he was saying that they really look like Greeks". De Leeuw presented the votes again for the Netherlands at the 2007 contest, and that time did not cause quite as much of a stir as he did the year before.

Animal rights dispute and controversy[link]

During a 2008 episode of Mooi! Weer De Leeuw, a vegan streaker wanting to draw attention to animal suffering managed to enter the sound stage. His body was covered in slogans such as "Stop animal suffering" and "Meat is murder". De Leeuw stopped security from escorting him from the stage in order to talk with him. De Leeuw proceeded to pull the man onto his lap and started poking at his underwear, insisting on "seeing his meat". As the man stood up, De Leeuw pulled down and eventually ripped off his underwear, saying, "then you must properly streak; off with those briefs."

The streaker later filed a police report, although the molestation charges have since been dropped. Some parents were shocked by the incident as the show was targeted at families as well.^[2][3]

Israëlean broadcast commotion[link]

De Leeuw identifies as a strong Eurovision Song Contest follower with his own perspectives and beliefs. He presented the Dutch Eurovision occasionally as a host and commentator in 1993, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006 en 2007. In 1998 and 1999 together with Linda de Mol. In 1995 a lot of commotion came out of this because he had started a tirade and outburst against the Israëlean broadcasting 'Amen'. ^[4]

Works[link]

In 2005, De Leeuw wrote the introduction to the Dutch edition of The Eurovision Song Contest - The Official History by John Kennedy O'Connor.

Discography[link]

• Voor u majesteit (1991)
• Van u wil ik zingen (1992)
• Plugged (1993)
• ParaCDmol (1994)
• Filmpje (1995)
• In heel Europa was er niemand zoals zij (1995)
• Encore (1996)
• Lief (1997)
• Stille liedjes (1999)
• Kerstkransje (2001)
• Zingen terwijl u wacht (2001)
• Metropaul (2004)
• Duizel mij (2005)
• Mooi! Weer Een Cd (2006)
• Het wordt winter (2008)
• Honderd uit één (2009)
• Paul (2012)

Filmography[link]

List of films in which Paul de Leeuw performed as an actor:^[5]

• Jan Rap en z'n maat (1989)
• Filmpje! (1995)
• Heerlijk duurt het langst (1998)
• De Pijnbank (1998)
• Max Lupa (1999)
• Yes Nurse! No Nurse! (2002)
• K3 en het magische medaillon (2004)
• Alles is liefde (2007)
• Spion van Oranje (2009)
• Alle tijd (2011)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Paul de Leeuw
• Paul de Leeuw at the Internet Movie Database