thumb|160px|right|Justus van Effen
Justus van Effen (21 February 1684 – 18 September 1735) was a Dutch writer, who wrote chiefly in French but also made crucial contributions to Dutch literature. A journalist, he imitated The Spectator with the publication of the Dutch-language Hollandsche Spectator. He gained international fame as a writer of French periodicals and a translator from English into French, and he is also recognized as one of the most important Dutch language writers of the 18th century and an influential figure of the Dutch Enlightenment.
What gained him fame, however, were his literary and journalistic endeavours.
An enthusiast for English periodicals, and in particular, The Spectator of Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, soon after first issues of The Spectator he launched Le Misanthrope (1711–1712) (a widely read journal referred to as "the first moralist periodical on the continent"),
The Hollandsche Spectator was one of the most notable papers inspired by The Spectator. Its topics consisted of everything a coffeehouse audience would be interested in: politics, religion and morality, fashion, and humor. Socially conservative, written in a pleasing tone and style, it raised important issues, questioning the reasons behind the waning position of the Dutch Republic on the international scene, and served as literary and moral guide for the bourgeoisie. The Hollandsche Spectator is considered one of the achievements of the late 18th century Dutch literature, and an inspiration to much Dutch journalism and literature.
Van Effen died in 's-Hertogenbosch, aged 51.
References
Further reading
- P. J. Buijnsters, Justus van Effen (1684–1735). Leven en Werk. (Utrecht: HES, 1992).
- W.J.B. Pienaar, English influences in Dutch literature and Justus van Effen as intermediary : an aspect of eighteenth century achievement, Cambridge : University Press, 1929
- James L. Schorr, The life and works of Justus van Effen, Publications of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages of the University of Wyoming, 1982