Loon, Hendrick Willem van

Hendrik Willem van Loon ^[1] ( Dutch Hendrik Willem van Loon ; 1882-1944) - Dutch-American historian, journalist and book illustrator, the first winner of the John Newbury medal .

Hendrick Willem van Loon
Hendrik willem van loon
Date of Birth	January 14, 1882 ( 1882-01-14 )
Place of Birth	Rotterdam , the Netherlands
Date of death	March 11, 1944 ( 1944-03-11 ) (62 years old)
Place of death	Old Greenwich, Connecticut , USA
Citizenship	USA
Occupation	historian , publicist , journalist
Years of creativity	1913-1944
Language of Works	english, dutch
Debut	The Fall of the Dutch Republic
Awards	John Newbury Medal

Born in Rotterdam in the family of Hendrick Willem van Loona ^[2] and Elizabeth Johanna Hanken ^[3] . In 1902, Hendrick went to study in the United States, where he studied at Cornell University , receiving a bachelor's degree in 1905. During the 1905 revolution, he worked in Russia as a correspondent for the Associated Press . In 1906, he married Eliza Bowdich, the daughter of a Harvard professor, and in this marriage he had two sons, Henry and Gerard Willem. After marriage, Hendrick moved with his family to Germany, where in 1911 he received a Ph.D. at the University of Munich for the work that became his first book - The Fall of the Dutch Republic (1913). At the beginning of World War I, Hendrik van Loon was a war correspondent in Belgium, but he soon moved to the United States and since 1915 became professor of history at Cornell University, and later at Harvard University. Hendrik van Loon was popular among students for his non-standard teaching style, but his university colleagues were skeptical about his methods.

In 1919, Hendrick van Loon received American citizenship , and in 1920 he remarried. His second wife was Eliza Helen (Jimmy) Chriswell, whom he later divorced and married playwright Francis Goodrich in 1927, but this marriage also broke up. At the end of his life, Hendrick van Loon reunited with Eliza Criswell, who inherited his property in 1944, but it is not known whether they registered their marriage again.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Hendrick van Lawon made a career as a journalist , radio commentator , columnist for a number of newspapers and magazines, a visiting lecturer at several US universities, and the author of several popular science books with a total circulation of 6 million copies. The books of Hendrick van Loon are distinguished by long headlines and subtitles; he illustrated many of his books himself. Hendrick van Loon's popularity grew rapidly, and in some media he was called "the most famous Dutchman in the United States."

Hendrick van Loon's most famous book is the History of Mankind ^[4] , for which he was awarded the John Newbury Medal ^[5] established in 1922. Hendrik van Loon himself supplemented this book in his lifetime, then his son and other historians made additions.

In the 1920s and 1930s, Hendrick van Loon traveled to Europe many times, including Germany, but after the Nazis came to power, his books were banned, and he himself was banned from entering Germany. In response, Hendrick van Lawon wrote the book “Our Fight: One Person 's Answer to Adolf Hitler's Mine Campf” in 1938, which was approved by “My Battle” by Adolf Hitler. US President Franklin Roosevelt . Hendrik van Loon actively participated in the Roosevelt election campaign of 1940 , urging the United States and Americans to fight against totalitarianism .

Hendrick van Loon died in 1944 in Old Greenwich , Connecticut and buried in a local cemetery. ^[6]