Louis Couperus
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Louis Marie-Anne Couperus was a Dutch novelist and poet of the late 19th and early 20th Century. He is usually considered one of the foremost figures in Dutch literature.
Born in the Netherlands in 1863, Couperus grew up in a wealthy upper middle-class family, spending much of his youth in the Dutch East Indies and going to school in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia). After returning to The Hague in the Netherlands to complete his studies, he published some early volumes of poetry and prose which garnered little success or critical attention. Couperus came to fame with the publication of his novel Eline Vere (1888), a naturalist work influenced by French novelists like Emile Zola and Guy de Maupassant. Couperus' 1891 novel Noodlot (Ill Fate) was much admired by Oscar Wilde, and many have noted stylistic similarities between Noodlot and Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorien Gray.
Couperus' later works include De Stille Kracht (The Hidden Force, 1900) and De Berg van Licht (The Mountain of Light, 1906), a decadent and seamy novel set at the height of the Roman Empire which was an international success.
A renowned wit, raconteur and commentator, Couperus continued to publish critically and commercially successful work until his death in 1923.de:Louis Couperus nl:Louis Couperus
External links
- Website of the Louis Couperus Society (Dutch) (http://www.louiscouperus.nl)