Couperus, Louis
| Name |
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| Birthname | Louis Marie Anne Couperus | ||||
| born on | 10 June 1863 at 23:59 (= 11:59 PM ) | ||||
| Place | The Hague, Netherlands, 52n06, 4e18 | ||||
| Timezone | LMT m4e18 (is local mean time) | ||||
| Data source |
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| Astrology data |   19°31'   19°08 Asc. 02°57'
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Biography
Dutch novelist and poet. His oeuvre contains a wide variety of genres: lyric poetry, psychological and historical novels, novellas, short stories, fairy tales, feuilletons and sketches. Couperus is considered to be one of the foremost figures in Dutch literature. He died in De Steeg on 16 July 1923.
Relationships
- friend relationship with Jäger, Gerrit (born 7 June 1863)
- other associate with Doff, Neel (born 27 January 1858). Notes: translator of "De vieilles gens"
- (has as) other hierarchical relationship with Booven, Henri van (born 7 July 1877). Notes: biographer of Couperus
Events
Source Notes
Sy Scholfield quotes "De man met de orchidee: Het levensverhaal van Louis Couperus" by Albert Vogel (Nijgh & Van Ditmar, 1973), p. 25: "Op het aangiftebiljet van de Burgerlijke Stand staat dat Louis Marie Anne geboren was om twaalf uur 's nachts op de tiende juni. Dit geeft tot onduidelijkheid aanleiding: hij werd geboren in de nacht van negen op tien juni om twaalf uur onder het sterreteken de Tweelingen. Couperus' geboortehuis op de Mauritskade 11 , een typisch patriciërshuis, geeft al aan dat de sociale status van het gezin hoog lag."
[Translation: the record at the Registry states that Louis Marie Anne was born at twelve o'clock at night on the tenth of June. This gives rise to confusion: he was born between nine and ten June at midnight under the zodiac sign Gemini. Couperus' birthplace was 11 Mauritskade indicating that the family held high social status.]
SVI comments: A print of the official birth record and its description can be found online: Louis Couperus: zijn geboorteakte, huwelijksakte en gezinskaart:. When one reads it literally "op den tienden dezer, des nachts ten twaalf uur" it clearly states that he was born 10 June 1863 at 12 PM. If it would have been 0h00 AM, the archive would use "des morgens".
But as Scholfield and Koppejan note, his more recent biographers H. de Hoogh Castell and Albert Vogel state that he actually was born in the evening of 9 June 1863, shorty before midnight. His biographers also mention that Couperus celebrated his birthday twice, on the 9th and 10th of June. As the reason for the choice of the parents they give, that their tenth child, born on the 9th of June, had died two years before and they did not want to disturb her birthday.
But actually genealogieonline.nl mentions a Maria Catharina Eleonora Couperus, born 10 June 1861, that died early (23 April 1862), according to Henri van Booven even on her birthday (10 June 1861). His Het geslacht Couperus states:
"Op denzelfden maanddatum waarop het jongste kind, Maria (Catharina Eleonora), den 10en Juni (1861) gestorven was, werd Louis, Marie Anne Couperus, twee jaren later (1863) in dat huis geboren. Er bestond eerst eenigen twijfel aangaande het juiste tijdstip van zijn geboorte en wel of deze in den nacht van den 9en op den 10den, voor het middernachtelijk uur, of daarna geschiedde. Na een onderzoek bleek de geboorte op den 10en te hebben plaats gehad. Couperus zelf had dikwijls schertsend gezegd dat het op den 9en moest gebeurd zijn, aangezien het cijfer 9 in zijn leven altijd een groote rol speelde, en er vele belangrijke gebeurtenissen in zijn bestaan op den 9en eener maand plaats vonden. Deze laatste zoon werd aldus gedoopt naar de voornamen der drie, op de Prinsegracht, jong gestorven zusjes: Louise, Johanna en Maria."
It translates as: "On the same day of the month, as the youngest child, Maria (Catharina Eleonora), the June 10th (1861) had died, was Louis, Marie Anne Couperus, two years later (1863) born in that house. There was first some doubt about the exact time of his birth and whether it was in the night of the 9th on the 10th, before or after the midnight hour. An investigation revealed that the birth would have taken place in the 10th. Couperus himself often jokingly said that it must have happened on the 9th, as the figure 9 in his life always played a great part, and there were many important events in his life happening on the 9and of the month. The last son was baptised according to the names of the three, on the Prinsengracht, young died sisters: Louise, Joanna, and Mary."
Conclusion: Municipal Archive gives a clear 10 June 1863 at 12:00 PM (Asc Piscus). But his biographers supposed on wrong grounds 10 June 1863 at 00:05 AM (Asc Piscus) or even 9 June 1863 at 11:55 PM (Asc Aquarius), the times Couperus believed in.
Categories
- Vocation : Writers : Fiction
- Vocation : Writers : Poet
