Jan H. de Groot

Jan Hendrik de Groot (13 March 1901 – 1 December 1990) was a Dutch poet, journalist, and resistance fighter. He was known for his Christian-inspired poetry, literary engagement with social issues, and anti-Nazi activism during World War II.

Early life and literary debut De Groot was born in Alkmaar into a culturally oriented Reformed Christian family. His literary interest was sparked during secondary school by his teacher Dr. André Schillings. He debuted in 1924 with the poem De karrekiet in the Protestant literary journal Opwaartsche Wegen, initiating a nature-lyrical phase in his poetry. His first poetry collection, Lentezon, was published in 1927.

Professional and editorial work From 1920 to 1937, he worked at the Rijkstelegrafie. He forwarded after the 1934 KLM Douglas DC-2 crash the Reuters journalists' stories from the crash location to England. These long press releases contained other information than the official readings; with possible theories about the cause of the crash which was never revealed. He later had a position at the library of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences until 1948. Between 1926 and 1938, De Groot served as editorial secretary for Het Korenland, a Protestant cultural youth magazine, contributing poems, stories, and reviews.

He worked as editor at Het Vrije Volk from 1948, later becoming press officer for the AKU in Arnhem until 1966. He was also active in the international writers’ organization PEN.

Later years De Groot remained active in literary life into old age, participating in readings and maintaining correspondence with fellow writers. He spent his final years in Park Boswijk, Zeist, where he organized literary events and continued writing poetry reflecting on aging and death.

Selected works Poetry collections Lentezon (1927) Vaart (1931) Om land en hart (1945) Moederkoren (1945) Bittermeren (1976) Kaleidoscopisch (1980) Silene (1987)

Prose and memoirs Fir (1938) Zeewaarts-Zuidwaarts (1940) Het woord als wapen en wapenbroeder (1989)