Hilda van Stockum
Encyclopedia
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Her father was an officer in the Dutch Royal Navy. She grew up in the Netherlands and Ireland, living for many years in the United States, and lived in England from about 1973. Her books are characterised by their vivid and realistic depictions of family life, some of it (e.g. The Mitchells) being autobiographical.
The Winged Watchman is her best-known book. It is a true story of how traditional windmills were used by the Dutch resistance for signaling under the noses of German occupiers. Two Dutch boys play a heroic role, carrying a warning message to the first windmill. The signal is then sent rapidly across the countryside by altering the position of the arms of the windmills. The book is based on letters Hilda received from relatives in the Netherlands, and has been praised for conveying an accurate sense of life under Nazi occupation. This book and several of her other titles are currently in print.
The emphasis is on realism in her painting and drawing as well, which consist mainly of still lifes, landscapes and portraits. She has achieved a degree of fame in this regard in Ireland, and was elected to the Honorary Council of the Royal Hibernian Academy
Royal Hibernian Academy
The Royal Hibernian Academy is an artist-based and artist-oriented institution in Ireland, founded in Dublin in 1823.-History:The RHA was founded as the result of 30 Irish artists petitioning the government for a charter of incorporation...
in 1983.
Personal life
Hilda was a granddaughter of Charles BoissevainCharles Boissevain
Charles Boissevain was a journalist, editor and part-owner of the Amsterdam Algemeen Handelsblad, a leading newspaper of the time. From 1872 he was on the editorial board of the literary journal De Gids.-Career:...
, editor of the Algemeen Handelsblad, an influential Dutch newspaper. She married Ervin Ross Marlin, a friend of her brother, mathematician Willem Jacob van Stockum
Willem Jacob van Stockum
Willem Jacob van Stockum was a mathematician who made an important contribution to the early development of general relativity....
in 1932. She had six children, who feature in many of her books. One of her children is the artist Brigid Marlin
Brigid Marlin
Brigid Marlin is an American artist based in Hertfordshire, UK. She studied in Dublin, Montreal, New York, Paris and Vienna where, under the guidance of the Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs, she learned the oil and egg tempera technique of the Flemish and Italian Renaissance painters Jan van Eyck and...
.
Religion
Although from a predominantly Protestant background, Hilda was a staunch Catholic since her conversion in 1939.Publications
- A Day on Skates (1934). A Newbery Honor book of 1935.
- The Cottage at Bantry Bay (1938) (Bantry Bay series)
- Francie on the Run (1939) (Bantry Bay series)
- Kersti and St. Nicholas (1940)
- Pegeen (1941) (Bantry Bay series)
- Andries (1942)
- Gerrit and the Organ (1943)
- The Mitchells (1945) (Mitchells series)
- Canadian Summer (1948) (Mitchells series)
- The Angels' Alphabet (1950)
- Patsy and the Pup (1950)
- King Oberon's Forest (1957)
- Friendly Gables (1958) (Mitchells series)
- Little Old Bear (1962)
- The Winged Watchman (1962)
- Jeremy Bear (1963)
- Bennie and the New Baby (1964)
- New Baby is Lost (1964)
- Mogo's Flute (1966)
- Penengro (1972)
- Rufus Round and Round (1973)
- The Borrowed House (1975)