Marita Theodora Catharina Mathijsen-Verkooijen (Belfeld, 8 August 1944) is professor of modern Dutch literature at the University of Amsterdam, with her speciality as the literature of the nineteenth century in the Netherlands.

Mathijsen graduated with work on the correspondence between Jacob van Lennep

Jacob van Lennep

Jacob van Lennep was a Dutch poet and novelist.-Early years:He was born in Amsterdam, where his father, David Jacob van Lennep , a scholar and poet, was professor of eloquence and the classical languages in the Atheneum...

 and Gerrit van de Linde (also known as "De schoolmeester" - the schoolmaster). She is also editor in chief of the periodical "De Negentiende Eeuw" (The Nineteenth Century) and has many editions on the nineteenth-century Dutch classic

Classic

The word classic means something that is a perfect example of a particular style, something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality. The word can be an adjective or a noun . It denotes a particular quality in art, architecture, literature and other cultural artifacts...

s. Apart from that she wrote various books on that period.