Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch (; 29 July 192730 October 2010) Mulisch's work is also popular among the country's public: a 2007 poll of NRC Handelsblad readers voted his novel The Discovery of Heaven (1992) the greatest Dutch book ever written.

Mulisch lived in Amsterdam from 1958 until his death in 2010.

Mulisch had two daughters, his daughters Frieda and Anna, with his wife Sjoerdje Woudenberg, and a son, Menzo, from his relationship with Kitty Saal.

Death

thumb|upright|Harry Mulisch' grave at [[Zorgvlied (cemetery)|Zorgvlied in 2011]]

Mulisch died in 2010. His death occurred at his Amsterdam home and his family was with him at the time. Culture minister Halbe Zijlstra bemoaned the demise of the "Big Three" as Gerard Reve and Willem Frederik Hermans had already died.

Works

Mulisch gained international recognition with the film The Assault (1986), based on his book of the same title (1982). It received an Oscar and a Golden Globe for best foreign movie and has been translated into more than twenty languages.

His novel The Discovery of Heaven (1992) is considered his masterpiece and was voted "the best Dutch-language book ever" by Dutch readers in a 2007 newspaper poll. "It is the book that shaped our generation; it made us love, even obsess, with reading", said Peter-Paul Spanjaard, 32, a lawyer in Amsterdam at the time of Mulisch's death.

Themes in his work

A frequent theme in his work is the Second World War. His father had worked for the Germans during the war and went to prison for three years afterwards. As the war spanned most of Mulisch's formative phase, it had a defining influence on his life and work. In 1963, he wrote a non-fiction work about the Eichmann case: Criminal Case 40/61. Major works set against the backdrop of the Second World War are De Aanslag (The Assault), Het stenen bruidsbed, and Siegfried.

Mulisch often incorporated ancient legends or myths in his writings, drawing on Greek mythology (e.g. in De Elementen), Jewish mysticism (in De ontdekking van de Hemel and De Procedure), well known urban legends and politics

Mulisch was politically left-wing, once signing a book "dedicated in admiration" to Fidel Castro.

In 1984, he delivered the Huizinga Lecture in Leiden, the Netherlands, under the title Het Ene (The Unifying Principle).

Bibliography

  • Archibald Strohalm (1952; novel)
  • Tussen hamer en aambeeld ("Between hammer and anvil", 1952; novella)
  • Chantage op het leven ("Blackmail on life", 1953; short story)
  • De Diamant ("The Diamond", 1954; novel)
  • De Sprong der Paarden en de Zoete Zee ("The Jump of Horses and the Sweet Sea", 1955; novel)
  • Het mirakel ("The miracle", 1955; short stories)
  • Het Zwarte licht ("The Black Light", 1957; novel)
  • Manifesten ("Manifestos", 1958; essays)
  • Het Stenen Bruidsbed ("The Stone Bridal Bed", 1959; novel)
  • Tanchelijn (1960; play)
  • De knop ("The button", 1961; play)
  • Voer voor Psychologen ("Food for psychologists", 1961; autobiography)
  • Wenken voor de bescherming van uw gezin en uzelf, tijdens de Jongste Dag ("Tips for the Protection of Your Family and Yourself During the Last Judgment"), 1961; essays)
  • ' ("Criminal Case 40/61", 1963; report on the Eichmann trial)
  • Bericht aan de Rattenkoning ("Message to the Rat King", 1966; essay on the Provos revolts in Amsterdam in the 1960s)
  • Wenken voor de Jongste Dag ("Tips for the Last Judgment", 1967; essays)
  • Het woord bij de daad ("The word added to the deed", 1968; essays)
  • Reconstructie ("Reconstruction", 1969; essays)
  • Paralipomena Orphica ("Paralipomena Orphica", 1970; essays)
  • De Verteller ("The Narrator", 1970; novel)
  • De Verteller verteld: Kommentaar, Katalogus, Kuriosa en een Katastrofestuk ("The Narrator being narrated: Comments, Catalogue, Curiosities and a Piece of Catastrophe, 1971; essay on The Narrator)
  • De toekomst van gisteren ("Yesterday's future", 1972; essay on a book the author cannot write)
  • Oidipous Oidipous (1972; play)
  • Woorden, woorden, woorden ("Words, words, words", 1973; poetry)
  • De vogels ("The Birds", 1974; poetry)
  • Mijn Getijdenboek ("My book of hours") (1975; autobiography)
  • Tegenlicht (1975; poetry)
  • Kind en Kraai (1975; poetry)
  • Twee Vrouwen ("Two Women", 1975; novel) (filmed as ' in 1979)
  • De wijn is drinkbaar dankzij het glas (1976; poetry)
  • Oude Lucht (1977; stories)
  • De Compositie van de Wereld (1980; a philosophical system)
  • Opus Gran (1982; poetry)
  • De Aanslag (The Assault, 1982; novel); see above.
  • De Kamer (1984; stories)
  • Hoogste Tijd ("Last Call", 1985; novel);
  • De Pupil ("The Pupil", 1987; novel)
  • De Elementen ("The Elements", 1988; novel)
  • Het beeld en de klok (1989; short story)
  • De Ontdekking van de Hemel (The Discovery of Heaven, 1992; novel)
  • De Procedure ("The Procedure", 1999; novel)
  • Het Theater, de brief en de waarheid ("The Theatre, the Letter and the Truth", 2000; novel); "Boekenweekgeschenk".
  • Siegfried (2001; novel)
  • De tijd zelf ("Time Itself", 2011; unfinished novel, published posthumously)
  • De ontdekking van Moskou ("The Discovery of Moscow", 2015; unfinished novel, published posthumously)
  • Ik kan niet dood zijn (2020, notes and aphorisms, collected by Kitty Saal and Johan Kuiper, published posthumously)

Honours and awards

Honours

  • 1977: Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
  • 1992: Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau (Netherlands)
  • 1997: Commander of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
  • 2001: Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters (France)
  • 2002: Officer's Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany

Awards

  • 1951: Reina Prinsen Geerligs Award, for the novel "archibald strohalm"
  • 1957: De Bijenkorf Literary Award, for the novel "The Black Light"
  • 1957: Anne Frank Award, for the novel "archibald strohalm"
  • 1961: Athos Prize, for lifetime achievement
  • 1961: ANV-Visser Neerlandia Prize, for the play "Tanchelijn"
  • 1963: Vijverberg Prize, for the report "Criminal Case 40/61"
  • 1977: Constantijn Huygens Prize, for lifetime achievement
  • 1977: Cestoda Prize
  • 1977: P. C. Hooft Award, for lifetime achievement
  • 1986: Deep Sea Award, for the novel "The Assault"
  • 1993: Multatuli Prize, for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
  • 1993: Mecca Award, for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
  • 1995: Dutch Literature Prize, for his whole oeuvre
  • 1999: Libris Prize, for the novel The procedure
  • 1999: Prix Jean Monnet de Littérature Européenne, French prize for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
  • 2003: Inktaap prize, for the novel "Siegfried"
  • 2003: Premio Flaiano, Italian prize for literature
  • 2007: Prix européen des jeunes lecteurs, French prize for the novel "Siegfried"
  • 2007: Honorary Doctorate from the University of Amsterdam
  • 2007: International Nonino Prize, Italian prize for literature
  • 2007: shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.
  • 2007: Prize for best Dutch novel of all time, for the novel "The Discovery of Heaven"
  • 2009: Golden Century Award, for his entire oeuvre

Planetoid

Mulisch was honoured with a planetoid in his name on 12 October 2006 (see 10251 Mulisch)

References

10 See also: “Augustinus P. Dierick: The Perils of Mythmaking: Harry Mulisch’s Siegfried (2001).” Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies, XXVII, I [2006], 11–31.

  • Schrijversnet – Dutch website with info on Dutch writers
  • Harry Mulisch 'Bookweb' on literary website The Ledge, with suggestions for further reading.
  • Literatuurplein – Dutch literature website (Dutch language).
  • Marianne Lamers page
  • University of Leiden, "Huizinga-lezing archief"

;Obituaries

  • The Daily Telegraph
  • The New York Times