Theo Thijssen

Theo Thijssen, the celebrated author of the Dutch book "Kees de Jongen", was a Dutch writer, teacher and socialite, born on 16 June 1879 in Amsterdam. He grew up in a family with five younger siblings and had a difficult childhood due to financial difficulties; his father owned a small shoe shop but died when Thijssen was only eight years old. After his father's death, Thijssen helped his mother work until he went to college in Haarlem. Thanks to his hard work, he got a scholarship for this course and graduated in 1898, after which he worked as a teacher at several schools in Amsterdam.

In 1905, Thijssen co-founded the journal De Nieuwe School with study friend Peter Bol, in which they wrote critical articles on the teaching methods, textbooks and children's books of the time. Thijssen also started writing the Kees stories, about a rich boy growing up in Amsterdam. He elaborated on this character in an article in 1921, before publishing the story as a book in 1923 under the name "Kees de Jongen". The story reflects aspects of his own life; like Kees, Thijssen was the son of a shoe salesman, but unlike Kees, Thijssen came from a poor family. Both went to work at a young age to support their families after their fathers passed away. In the same year that "Kees de Jongen" was published, Thijssen became director of the Union of Dutch Educators, a position he held until his death in 1943. In honour of his lifetime achievements, a Dutch literary prize was named after him, as well as a museum in Amsterdam.