Jan de Vries | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born | (1890-02-11)11 February 1890 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 23 July 1964(1964-07-23) (aged 74) Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | |
| Thesis | Studiën over Faerörsche balladen (1915) |
| Doctoral advisor | Richard Constant Boer |
| Influences | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Philology |
| Sub-discipline | |
| Institutions | University of Leiden |
| Main interests | |
| Notable works |
|
| Influenced | |
Jan Pieter Marie Laurens de Vries (11 February 1890 – 23 July 1964) was a Dutch philologist, linguist, religious studies scholar, folklorist, educator, writer, editor and public official who specialized inGermanic studies.[1]
Apolyglot, de Vries studiedDutch,German,Sanskrit andPali at theUniversity of Amsterdam from 1907 to 1913, and gained aPhD inNordic languages from theUniversity of Leiden in 1915 with great distinction. Subsequently, authoring a number of important works on a variety of subjects, de Vries was in 1926 appointed Chair ofAncient Germanic Linguistics and Philology at the University of Leiden. In subsequent years, de Vries played an important role at Leiden as an administrator and lecturer, while publishing a number of important works onGermanic religion andOld Norse literature. Combined with his university duties, de Vries was a leading member of theMaatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde and theRoyal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, led severalcivil organizations, edited a number of encyclopedias and magazines, and was instrumental in establishingfolklore studies as a scientific discipline.
De Vriescollaborated with theNazis duringWorld War II. When democracy was restored in the Netherlands in 1945, he was imprisoned for several years, fired from his university, expelled from thelearned societies in which had previously been a leading member, and deprived of the right to vote. He eventually received permission to work as asecondary school teacher inOostburg. Living in isolation, and with his entire library having been destroyed during the war, de Vries committed himself to writing. In subsequent years, he authored a number of influential works onCeltic religion,Old Norse and Dutch etymology, and revised second editions of his works on Germanic religion and Old Norse literature. His works on these subjects have formed a central basis for modern research, and have remained standard texts up to the present day.
Jan Pieter Marie Laurens de Vries was born inAmsterdam, Netherlands, on 11 February 1890.[2] He was the son of the teacher Laurens de Vries, and Anthonetta Christina Vermast.[3]
After having graduated from theHogere Burgerschool, de Vries studiedDutch,German,Sanskrit andPali underJan te Winkel at theUniversity of Amsterdam from 1909 to 1913, where he received hisBA andMA with great distinction.[3] De Vries became apolyglot.[4] He gained hisPhD at theUniversity of Leiden in 1915 under the supervision ofRichard Constant Boer.[5] His dissertation,Studiën over Faerörsche balladen (1915), examinedFaroese literature, and was received with critical acclaim.[3]
De Vries was drafted into theDutch Army in 1914, serving inNorth Brabant duringWorld War I. He retired as an officer in 1919.[5] De Vries recounted his experiences in the war in the novelEen singeling in the mass (1918), which was published under thepseudonym Jan van Lokeren. De Vries was appointed a high school teacher inArnhem in 1919.[3] In 1920 de Vries was on a four-month study trip toNorway, where he became acquainted with theScandinavian andFinnish language. Contemporary with his teaching duties in Arnhem, de Vries wrote a number of important works, includingDe Wikingen in de lage landen bij de zee (1923),Henrik Ibsen (1924), andGeschiedenis der Nederlandsche letterkunde (1925).[3]
In 1926, de Vries was appointed Chair ofAncient Germanic Linguistics and Philology at theUniversity of Leiden. This post also coveredIndo-European studies.[2] At Leiden, de Vries taught Indo-European and Germanic linguistics, with a particular focus on theliterature of the earlyGermanic peoples. Reconstructing early Germanic culture and presenting it to the public became a lifelong passion for de Vries.[4]
At Leiden, de Vries distinguished himself as a teacher, organizer and scholar of unusual ability and productivity.[3] Students of de Vries would later describe him as a brilliant teacher, and his ability in this regard is substantiated by the large number of influential doctoral thesises that were completed under his supervision.[4] He was a gifted and highly productive writer, with an unusual ability to analyze and present difficult problems in a clear manner. This enabled him to write a number of successful works intended for popular audiences.[4]
De Germaansche oudheid (1930) by de Vries introduced the ancient Germanic peoples to the Dutch public, and was a great success. It was later published in a second edition under titleDe Germanen (1941).[3] He was the editor and driving force behind the fifth edition ofWinkler Prins'sAlgemene encyclopedie (General Encyclopedia), which was published in 16 volumes in 1932–1938.[2] From 1934 to 1939, de Vries was chairman of the prestigiousMaatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.[5]
By the early 1930s, de Vries was recognized as the world's foremost authority onGermanic religion. As such, de Vries was requested to write the volume on Germanic religion forHermann Paul'sGrundriss der germanischen Philologie. The resultingAltgermanische Religionsgeschichte (1935-1937) was published inGerman in two volumes.[4] InAltgermanische Religionsgeschichte, de Vries expressed opposition toNordicism and doubts about the continuity of Germanic culture up until modern times, which put him at odds with the dominantNazi ideology in Germany at the time.[4] His translation of theEdda was published in 1938, and reprinted in 1971.[3] It has been described as "a small literarymasterpiece".[6] In 1938, with sponsorship from theMaatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde and theRoyal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature, he established theBibliotheek der Nederlandsche letteren, a series of Dutch literary works.[2]
During the 1930s, de Vries argued strongly in favor of establishingfolklore studies as a distinct scientific discipline.[2] He believed thatfairy tales could be considered extensions ofmyths.[5] In 1934, he helped establish the Interuniversitaire Commissie ter Voorbereiding van een Volkskundeatlas. In 1937, he was appointed Chairman of theInternational Society for Ethnology and Folklore.[5] He was also editor of the folklore magazineFolk. It was thanks to De efforts of de Vries that folklore study was established as a scientific discipline in the Netherlands in the 1930s.[4] In 1938, de Vries was admitted to theRoyal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was appointed Chairman of its Folklore Committee.[5]
During theoccupation of the Netherlands byNazi Germany duringWorld War II, de Vries served as vice-chairman of theNederlandsche Kultuurkamer, whose approval was required for any artistic or literary production in the Netherlands during this time. In 1940, shortly after theBattle of the Netherlands, de Vries authored the pamphletNaar een betere toekomst (Toward a Better Future), where he expressed his opposition to democracy and argued in favor of a German victory in the war. From 1940 to 1941, de Vries was Chairman of theAlgemeen-Nederlands Verbond, an organization working towards closer cooperation between Netherlands andFlanders. Throughout the war, he published articles onrunes and Germanic religion with Nazi publishers, worked for theHamer, contributed toAhnenerbe projects, and in 1943 he became a "sympathizing member" of theGermanic SS.[5][4] Working under the Nederlandse Kultuurkamer, he expressed sympathy and support for Nazism in radio broadcasts and publications.[3] Although he collaborated with Nazis, his scholarly works do not display any features of Nazi ideology.[2] He refused to join theNational Socialist Movement in the Netherlands.[3] Nazi leaders did not believe that de Vries was an adherent of Nazism and doubted his loyalty.[4]
De Vries' most important work produced during the war is his two-volumeAltnordische Literaturgeschichte (1941-1942).[3] It provides a general literary history ofOld Norse literature.[4]
It eventually became clear that the German position in the war was losing and the Netherlands was likely to revert to Allied control. In September 1944, de Vries and his wife fled toLeipzig, Germany.[3]
On 27 February 1946 de Vries was dismissed from the University of Leiden due his political beliefs. He was also expelled from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde.[3][7] De Vries was eventually arrested and interned inVught from 10 October 1946. In May–June 1948, theBijzonder Gerechtshof found de Vries guilty of "intellectual collaboration", and deprived him of the right to vote and hold political office.[3]
Jan de Vries (1890-1964) is usually considered the greatestGermanic studies scholar of the 20th century... Thanks to his vast knowledge, familiarity with the source material of ancient Northern Europe, and abilities as a synthesizer, de Vries must be considered one of the greatestsocial scientists of his generation.[8]
After his release from prison, de Vries had no income, and was thus permitted to resume working as asecondary school teacher in Dutch literature inOostburg. The decision to permit de Vries to work again was met with criticism due to his past political crimes.[3] After retiring from teaching in 1955, de Vries resumed his scholarly work. Although he lived in almost complete isolation and had lost his entire library during the war, this was a time of remarkable productivity for him.[3] In 1956–1957, he published a second revised edition ofAltgermanische Religionsgeschichte, which remains his most famous and influential work.[2] In this second revised edition, de Vries lent critical support to thetrifunctional hypothesis ofGeorges Dumézil.[4]Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte has constituted the standard work on Germanic (includingOld Norse) religion up to the present day.[4][9][10]
After his relocation toUtrecht in 1957, a number of important works were published, includingKelten und Germanen (1960),Keltische Religion (1961) andForschungsgeschichte der Mythologie (1961).[2] HisAltnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (1961) was finally published after many years of work.[3] Towards the end of his life, de Vries worked mainly on hisNederlands etymologisch woordenboek (1961-1971). He died in Utrecht on 23 July 1964.[3]
Altnordische Literaturgeschichte by de Vries was published in a second revised edition in 1964–1967.[3] It has remained the standard work on Old Norse literature up to the present day.[4]
The remaining volumes ofNederlands etymologisch woordenboek were completed by F. de Tollenaere.[3] De Vries' publications on Old Norse literature, Dutch etymology and Germanic religion have formed the basis for modern research on the subjects, and have remained standard reference works up to the present day.[5][4]Stefan Arvidsson describes de Vries as the greatest Germanic studies scholar of the 20th century, and as one of the foremostsocial scientists of his generation.[8] It is likely that his works will continue to form the basis of modern research for many years to come.[4]
De Vries married Maria Machteld Vogel on 10 October 1915. Together they had three children, two girls and one boy.[3]
