Wim Hora Adema

Wim Hora Adema
Wim Hora Adema (1981)
Born(1914-07-14)14 July 1914
Leeuwarderadeel
Died10 December 1998(1998-12-10) (aged 84)
NationalityDutch
Occupation(s)Writer, journalist, editor, publisher
Known forOpzij

Wim Hora Adema (14 July 1914 – 10 December 1998[1]) was a Dutch author of children's literature and a feminist, notable for being the co-founder of Opzij, founded in 1972 as a radical feminist monthly magazine. She was one of the best-known women of the Dutch second wave of feminism.[2]

Biography

Adema began her career as an unpaid worker for the Algemeen Handelsblad, a liberal Amsterdam newspaper; in 1939, she was appointed editor for the national section. She worked there until 1941, when she resigned as a protest against the anti-Jewish measures taken at the paper.[1] During World War II, she was active in the Dutch resistance, which brought her in contact with the group that published Het Parool, an illegal resistance paper.[1]

Parool and Voor de vrouw: 1940s to 1950s

After the war ended, Het Parool hired her as editor for national news.[3] After three years, in 1948, Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, editor-in-chief of Het Parool, asked her to start editing a page for women and children,[1] called Voor de vrouw (maar voor haar niet alléén...) ("for the woman, but not just for her").[3] which also published reviews of children's books.[4] In that period she shared desks with authors such as Gerard Reve, Henri Knap, and Simon Carmiggelt, and was one of the people in Amsterdam around whom literary life was centered.[1] Contributors of stories and verse to the "legendary" page included Hora Adema herself as well as authors and journalists such as Annie M.G. Schmidt, Jeanne Roos, and Harriët Freezer; for almost 20 years, Fiep Westendorp illustrated the column with black and white drawings that situated the position of woman in society.[3] Adema worked for Het Parool for twenty-two years, during which time she helped nurture women authors and illustrators including Schmidt, Westendorp, Freezer, Hella Haasse, and Mies Bouhuys. In 1968 she was fired by editor-in-chief Herman Sandberg, which caused some uproar and even led to the firing of an editor at Vrij Nederland.[1]

Feminist activism and Opzij, 1960s and after

In the 1960s, Hora Adama gained attention writing feminist newspaper columns.[5] With Hedy d'Ancona, Joke Smit, Hora Adema started Man Vrouw Maatschappij (often abbreviated as MVM, and translated as "Man Woman Society"), a radical feminist action group considered the first Dutch Second-wave feminism organization[6] and active until it was dissolved in 1988.[7]

With d'Ancona, Hora Adema founded the radical feminist monthly magazine Opzij[8] (the title translates as "move over") in 1972, together with politician and sociologist Hedy d'Ancona.[9] Opzij is the only publication that has survived from the Dutch second wave of feminism and has a large and loyal readership.[9] In 1972, the magazine printed 1,700 copies per month; by 1992 this had grown to 65,000, having developed itself "from a radical feminist pamphlet to a liberal-feminist opinion magazine with a large dose of human interest."[10] In 1992, d'Ancona and Adema were awarded the Harriët Freezer ring, an award given to contributors to women's emancipation, honoring them for Opzij and other contributions.[11] In 2007, printed over 94,000 copies per month,[9] though today it is considered a more mainstream magazine, focusing more on general opinion than on activism.[9]

Further reading

  • Boonstra, Bregje (1999). "In Memoriam Wim Hora Adema (1914-1998)". Literatuur Zonder Leeftijd. 13: 87–88.
  • Weterings, Eric-Jan (2006). Deurwaarder van de vriendschap. Wim Hora Adema (1914-1998). Amsterdam: Aksant. ISBN 978-90-5260-225-7.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Koerts, Agnes (17 December 1998). "Journalist en inspirator, maar vooral talentenjager: Wim Hora Adema 1914-1998". Trouw.
  2. ^ Agerbeek, Marjan (2 October 2001). "Dinosaurussen van de tweede feministische golf; Ontmanteling". Trouw.
  3. ^ a b c Andries, Caroline. "Voor de vrouw maar voor haar niet alléén...Fiep Westendorp in de krant". Politics.be. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  4. ^ "Hora Adema, Wim". De Personenencylopedie. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  5. ^ Meijer, Irene Costera (1996). Het persoonlijke wordt politiek: feministische bewustwording in Nederland, 1965-1980. Het Spinhuis. p. 298. ISBN 978-90-5589-052-1.
  6. ^ Bosch, Mineke (2009). "The Meaning of a Kiss". In Ingrid Bauer, Hana Havelkova (ed.). Gender & 1968. Köln, Weimar: Böhlau Verlag. p. 59. ISBN 978-3-412-20361-0.
  7. ^ Agerbeek, Marjan (28 September 2001). "...de tweede golf; Terugblik". Trouw.
  8. ^ Armee, Hans (31 August 2007). "Het laatste obstakel is de man". Trouw. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  9. ^ a b c d Kooke, Sandra (28 January 2008). "'Opzij is in de jaren zeventig blijven steken'". Trouw. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
  10. ^ Sierksma, Peter; Shuchen Tan (27 November 1992). "De verworvenheid van Opzij: er komen nu veel meer soorten vrouwen aan bod". Trouw.
  11. ^ "De Harriet Freezerring 1992 is toegekend aan ...". Trouw. 20 October 1992.
  12. ^ Peer, Harry. "Deurwaarder en dwarsligger: Wim Hora Adema - Biografie van Eric-Jan Weterings". Retrieved 6 March 2011.