Mina Kruseman
Mina Kruseman | |
|---|---|
 Wilhelmina Jacoba Pauline Rudolphine Kruseman | |
| Born | 25 September 1839 |
| Died | 1922 |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, singer |
Wilhelmina Jacoba Pauline Rudolphine "Mina" Kruseman (25 September 1839 – 1922) was a 19th-century Dutch feminist, actrice and author who used to call herself Oristorio di Frama.
Mina Kruseman, was born in Velp, Gelderland as the oldest of 4 daughters of Hendrik Georg Kruseman [1] [2] (1802[3]-1880) en Jennij Dorotheé Hermine Cornelie Cantzlaar[3] (1810-1859).
H. G. Kruseman, who went on to serve in the Dutch army in the Dutch East Indies, took the family with him. Her growing up with three sisters in Samarang Dutch East Indies had some influence in her later writings. But those years she had a feeling of freedom. In her in 1877 published auto-biography Mijn leven (My life) there are a few citations, where she testifies of her happy life there. In 1854 the family returned to the Netherlands. Mina developed a deep aversion against the cold, small-city narrow-minded homeland and the restrictions that were imposed by decency, convention and religion, and certainly women were thereby the most affected.
Other than her home country, she also spent a considerable part of her life in Belgium, France and United States.[4]
Mina wanted to do something with her life. Did however not know what in the beginning. In Brussels where she lived, she was accepted at the Conservatory for voice and piano. But after one year she did quit. After the death of two of her sisters, and a broken engagement. she decides to be an artist, globe-trotting along stages. She continues her education as a singer in Paris. In Europe she has only little success. In 1871 she decides therefore to go to America. The start was difficult, but in the end she experiences as Stella Oristorio di Frama in the South of the US some success-performances. Karcilla Réna was another pseudonym used by Mina. Because the uncertain prospects she went in the summer of 1872 back to Brussels. In Paris published her first publication: a response to a woman-unfriendly piece by Alexandre Dumas, fils: Lettre a M. Alexandre Dumas fils au sujet de son livre l'Homme-femme (1872). In America she had already writen her first novel. But it would take some time, before this was to be published.
She started her career as a performing-artist in Holland. During her first appearance in the Hague november 1872 she reads them a chapter for from her forthcoming novel. Spring 1873 her fame in the rest of the Netherlands grows during her tour together with Betsy Perk. Other Dutch male authors had made likewise performances, reading from their own writings, into a serious source of income. Mina wanted her own economic independence, no chance of a free performance of Mina Kruseman. The text they used: Zusters. Een schetsje uit onze dagen ("Sisters. A sketch from our days.") was written by Mina especially for this occasion. It tells the story of 5 almost adult sisters, the education of girls and women's lives afterwards: waiting for a spouse, and when a marriage was not provided, a life as a spinster. Mina's tantalizing appearance and her widely acclaimed performance art was quite a happening in the early years of feminist Holland. In addition, Mina expressed severe criticism on the level of art-criticism in The Netherlands: real talents were driven out of the country: with Eduard Douwes Dekker, Multatuli as a prominent example.
Eduard Douwes Dekker and Mina Kruseman, at first they were the best of friends. Mina was a great admirer of Dekker and his writings. Mina eventually played even a leading role as queen Louise in Multatuli's play Vorstenschool, (School of Princes). This was however also the reason of the hate between Mina and Dekker in their later life.[5]
Published works
- Een huwelijk in Indië (A marriage in the Dutch East Indies) :The Hague, 1873
- De moderne Judith (The modern Judith): Dordrecht, 1873
- Meester Kritiek (Master critical): Middelburg, 1874
- Mijn leven (My life): Dordrecht, 1873
- Willen en handelen (Want and actions): Fellah Damstone, Dordrecht, 1879
References
- ^ "Mina Kruseman". Retrieved 2007-06-19.
- ^ Huwelijksakte 1 van de Burgerlijke stand Gelderland, inventarisnummer 3239 Huwelijk tussen Hendrik G. Kruseman en Jennij D.H.C. Cantzlaar
- ^ a b Geboorteakte 88 van de Burgerlijke stand Gelderland, inventarisnummer 6054 Jennij D.H.C. Cantzlaar (moeder) en Hendrik G. Kruseman (vader) op de geboorteakte van Jennij D.H.C. Kruseman
- ^ "kruseman". Retrieved 2007-06-19.
- ^ Annet Mooij: Het verraad van een zielsverwant (The betrayal of a soul mate), in: De minotaurus onzer zeden (The Minotaur of our morals), Aksant, Amsterdam, 2010, ISBN 978-90-5260-376-6
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