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Simon Carmiggelt Photo by Rob Mieremet / Anefo

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Simon Carmiggelt

Simon Carmiggelt was a Dutch writer, journalist, and poet who became a well known public figure in the Netherlands because of his daily newspaper columns and his television appearances.

During WWII he got in touch with the Dutch resistance and worked for the underground newspaper Het Parool. He is famous for his stories about Amsterdam and the typical humour of its residents. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts about him;

1.He was born on 7th October 1913 in the Hague

Simon Johannes Carmiggelt was born on 7 October 1913 in The Hague, as the second son of Herman Carmiggelt and Adriana Bik. He had only one older brother named Jan (Johannes Simon).Simon did not turn out to be a very bright student and he left secondary school in 1929. 

He enjoyed working as an editor for the school paper though, and he was determined to become a journalist.His dream of becoming a a journalist came pass later in his life after several attempts of trying different jobs.

2.He started his career as a reporter for the socialist newspaper Het Volk (“The People”)

Simon Carmiggelt reporting news Photo by Rob Mieremet / Anefo

After various editorial jobs, he became a reporter for the socialist newspaper Het Volk (“The People”). Later on he worked for the same paper as a drama critic. He also wrote short columns about daily life in The Hague, which he called Kleinigheden (“Trifles”). 

When Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands in 1940 and Het Volk was taken over and censored, Carmiggelt resigned from the paper. During the Second World War he had all sorts of small jobs, but he secretly got in touch with the Dutch resistance and worked for the underground newspaper Het Parool (“The Password”). 

3.His brother was arrested by the Nazi’s and died in their hands in 1943

Under the German occupation of the Netherlands, Simon’s brother Jan was arrested by the Nazis in 1943 for aiding persons in hiding.He was taken to Herzogenbusch concentration camp, where he died of exhaustion on 26 September 1943.

Jan’s death was to change the rest of Simon’s life; he would never fully overcome the trauma it caused.Carmiggelt also wrote about his children and later his grandchildren, his cats and other small events in his life. 

4.His work became very popular and he received various Dutch literary prizes

His work became very popular and he received various Dutch literary prizes. Together with the Dutch-Indo author and essayist Tjalie Robinson he is credited with establishing a whole new genre in Dutch literature that found successors like Rudy Kousbroek. 

After the war he again started to write columns for Het Parool; he signed them with the pen name Kronkel (“Twist”, or “Kink”). His Kronkels became very famous for their melancholic, sometimes sombre tone and the ironic use of formal language.

5.A statue of him was made in his honor but was stolen

A statue of Simon Carmiggelt Photo sourced from

A year after his death, a statue of Carmiggelt (made by Kees Verkade) was placed near his former house in Amsterdam and one of him and his wife on a park bench near his summer house in De Steeg (Rheden). This last statue was stolen in the weekend of 21 January 2012.

It was retrieved on 25 January, sawn into many pieces. Three men have been arrested in relation to this event; the motive is still unclear. The statue was pieced together by the sculptor Wik Kuijl and then re-unveiled in its original site on 23 January 2013.

6.He was married to Wilhelmina Joanna (Tiny) de Goey on 6th September 1939

A statue of the Carmiggelt couple Photo by Michielverbeek

Carmiggelt married on 6th September 1939, former ballet dancer Wilhelmina Joanna (Tiny) de Goey who gave him a daughter called Marianne.Camigge. He also had a lover relation with feminist writer Renate Rubinstein (16 Nov 1929, Amsterdam – 23 Nov 1990).

Simon and his wife Tiny moved in 1944 to Amsterdam and worked day and night for the illegal paper “Het Parool”. Unlike his courageous wife Tiny, Simon was scared to death, but he felt he had to do this dangerous job anyway.

7.He won several awards in his career

After the war “Het Parool” became Amsterdams most famous legal paper and Simon became an influential columnist. In the difficult to translate his column “Kronkel” (Kink, twist) in which he wrote about the weird happenings of life.

In 1961 he got the Constantijn Huygens Prize and in 1974 the prestigious P.C. Hooft Award for his work.Much of his inspiration he digged up in Amsterdam bars, which also made him a notorious alcoholic.In his tragic comic way Carmiggelt wrote about the shadow part of life of drunk men that lost their façade in the strange twists of life. 

8.Both him and his brother were journalists for the same paper

Jan proved to be a bright student and had a fast career as a political economist, but Simon hated school and only showed some interest in the School newspaper.His elder brother Johannes Simon (Jan) Carmiggelt became a journalist and an talented economist.

Both worked for the socialistic Arbeiderpers and both resigned in 1940 when the Nazi’s took the Press over. When the freedom of press was taken away, both brothers were involved in the Dutch resistance against Nazi Germany, but Jan was caught and became a victim of the Nazi Holocaust at age 34.

9.He did numerous works as a screen writer and several songs as a poet

He did numerous works as a screen writer and several songs as a poet. Some of his works as a screen writer include; The voice of the water (1966), The human Dutch (1963), and The Zoo (1962).

Eight newspaper-columns by Dutch writer Simon Carmiggelt were turned into a film in honor of his 70st birthday.Some of his albums as a poet also include; Verhalen over:Man en vrouw(1976), kroeglopen (1976),and Oude Mensen (1974). 

10.He died on November 30th, 1987 aged 74

Because of his heavy drinking he developed type 2 diabetes and also atherosclerosis. He died of an heart attack on 30 November 1987 in Amsterdam. He was 74 years old when he died and left behind a wife and several children including a daughter from his wife Tiny. 

He was also humorous essayist, who also wrote lyrics and children’s books, including “Little Men.”He became one of the most sought after Dutch people and there have been several statues made in his honor and to honor the contribution he brought to Dutch history.