Â鶹APP

Jean Dulieu, 1962. Photo by Jack de Nijs.

Top 10 Cool Facts about Jean Dulieu

Jean Dulieu was the pseudonym that Jan Van Oort used in his writing career. He was a Dutch children’s book author and comic strip cartoonist.

While he first played the violin with an orchestra in Amsterdam, he would later fully concentrate on his drawing talents after being forced to leave the orchestra in 1944.

He is well known for his creation of ‘Paulus the wood gnome. It was a Dutch newspaper comic strip that became very popular, inspiring a series of children’s novels. He also published Francesco, a book about Francis of Assisi. Here are the top 10 cool facts about Jean Dulieu.

1. He was the grandson of the political cartoonist, Johan Braakensiek

Johan Braakensiek. Sourced from

Jan van Oort (alias Jean Dulieu) was born on 13 April 1921 in Amsterdam. His father, Hendrick van Oort, was a concert singer. His grandfather, Johan Braakensiek was a Dutch illustrator and political cartoonist.

He worked for several publishers as an illustrator. Books such as Van Allerlei Slag by Justus Van Maurik feature his art. His work as a political cartoonist was featured in magazines including the De Amsterdammer magazine.

Interestingly, Johan’s father was also an illustrator. Jean Dulieu was equally fascinated by art, taking after his predecessors.

2. He first played the violin with the Royal Concertgebouw orchestra

Musicians playing the violin by Pexels-

From an early age, Jean Dulieu was a lover of music, drawing, puppet making, and similar creative activities. He enrolled at a conservatorium to study the violin. Upon graduating in 1940, he joined the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.

It is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Amsterdam. It is considered one of the world’s leading orchestras. There, he played as a violinist.

3. He turned to his drawing after the orchestra was decommissioned

Having joined the orchestra in 1940, Jean played the violin for about 3 and a half years. Unfortunately, during the Dutch Famine of 1944, the orchestra was decommissioned.

This was near the end of World War II in the German-Occupied Netherlands.  A German blockade had cut off food from farm towns. It is estimated that 22,000 deaths occurred due to the famine before the liberation of the affected provinces by the Allies.

With the orchestra no longer in action, Jean got more time to focus on drawing. He made twelve designs of a gnome, a small humanoid character, and let his wife choose the best one. He would later transform his drawing into a children’s book character.

4. He used the pseudonym ‘Jean Dulieu’ as a career precaution

Jan Van Oort (alias Jean Dulieu). Photo by Hans van Djik.

Jan Van Oort (Jean Dulieu) moved his family to Terschelling, an Island in the northern Netherlands shortly after World War II. A year later, he quit playing with the Orchestra and resolved to focus on making comic strips.

He had no education in this field, however, but he was a creative mind. He chose to use the pseudonym ‘Jean Dulieu’ as a writer. It is the literal French translation of his real name.

It is alleged that he decided to do so as a caution to preserve his image as a violinist just in case he didn’t make it as a writer.

5. He is known for his work ‘Paulus the Woodgnome’

Jean Dulieu holding one of Paulus’ series, 1962. Photo by Jack de Nijs.

Shortly after World War II, Jean made several designs for gnomes. After his wife chose the best gnome, he developed it into a comic for children. He named the gnome ‘Paulus.’

The first Paulus strip was published on February 2 1946 in a Dutch newspaper; Het Vrije Volk. The comic strip ran between 1946 and 1984. In total, Jean created approximately 3600 comic strips for the newspaper.

In 1948, the first illustrated Paulus children’s books were published. It was a series including Paulus the deputy Sinterklaas, the Paulus Winter book, and Paulus and Eucalypta. Jean published his masterpiece ‘Paulus and the acorn men’ in 1964.

6. Jean Dulieu did the voices for the radio drama ‘Paulus the Woodgnome’

Paulus the Woodgnome had become very popular as a comic strip, and between 1955 and 1964, it was broadcast as a radio drama. Jean did all the voices of the creation’s characters except that of Princess Priegeltje.

The latter was done by Jean’s daughter, Dorinde van Oort. The comic was adapted for VARA radio as a series of audio plays.

7. He made several puppet series

A puppet and string by Marc Rickertsen from

One of the first television puppet series by Jean was from the Paulus collection. It was the Paulus de boskabouter series. It was adapted for VARA television. Jean made all the puppets himself and provided the voices. It ran from October 1967 to December 1968.

From 1967, he made a total of 39 puppet movies of 10 minutes each for the Dutch television program ‘Monitor’. He created the puppets, scenery, and accessories by himself. These were also broadcast in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

8. Paulus Archives organization collects his works

Jean Dulieu engaging with children over comic books. Photo by Wim van Rossem.

Apart from Paulus, Jean created for the supermarket chain Albert Heijn a book called ‘Boffie and Buikie in a tie. The album’s paper strips could be collected from Albert Heijn’s shop purchases.

Since 1995, the Paulus Archives has been collecting and publishing the life and works of Jean Dulieu. It was founded in 1985 by Maarten de Meulder who was fascinated by comics. 

He was fond of Jean’s comics, and the two became close family friends. Numerous materials from Jean Dulieu’s work are in the collection.

9. His publications have been translated into several languages

Jean’s most popular work, Paulus the Woodgnome was translated into German, English, Swedish, and Japanese. He made several series based on the character Paulus, including his considered masterpiece; Paulus and the acorn men.

He published it in 1964. Following his travels to Italy, he published the book ‘Francesco’ in 1953, a book about Francis of Assisi, an Italian Catholic friar.

Various books by Jean have been translated into English, German, South African, Swedish, and Japanese.

10. Jean Dulieu won several awards

Jean Dulieu, 1962. Photo by Harry Pot.

In 1962, Jean received an Edison award for a gramophone record for one of his Paulus stories. The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in music.

Paulus the deputy Sinterklaas was the Best Children’s Book in 1962. In 1981, he was awarded the Stripschapprijs, a Dutch prize awarded to comic creators, for his entire cartoonist career.