Johan Hendrik van Flagstone

Johan Hendrik van Flagstone , born with Sluis on February 15th, 1828 and died in the same city the 18 or on May 19th, 1872, was a director of elementary school, an archivist and a lexicographer Dutch.

Biography

His/her parents were originating in the town of Eeklo, in Flanders-Eastern (today in Belgium). An epidemic of variola has just occurred in the Meetjesland, the father of Van Dale left the area with his expectant mother and passed the limit with the Zealand to settle in Sluis.

Hendrik van Dale is famous to have been the godfather of the Groot woordenboek der Nederlandse taal (“Large language dictionary Dutchwoman”), more known under the name of Dikke Van Dale (“Large Van Dale”).

Van Dale obtained at 16 years its diploma of aptitude to be exerted in primary school education. May 23rd, 1854, it was engaged as a principal primary education teacher of the public school of its birthplace. Starting from 1855, it obtains also the post of archivist of the city.

Meanwhile, he wrote handbooks on the linguistic purity, grammar and the syntactic analysis, of the articles and the booklets on the history of Sluis and he ressuscita old the Chambre of rhetoric De Oranjebloem .

In 1867, it agreed the proposal to revise the first edition of the Nieuw woordenboek der Nederlandsche taal (“New language dictionary Dutchwoman”) of the brothers Isaac Marcus and Nathan Solomon Calisch. It accepted the task and came from there to end in four years. Because it itself had been often opposed by the inaccuracies, too general or confused information that it had found existing in the dictionaries, it was essential demanding rules on the exact definition of the terms: did the teacher Van Dale have constantly with the spirit the schoolboy who was to be able to find an answer clear, specifies and complete with its question “What that means? ”

He wrote in the foreword of the edition of 1871: (...) Écrire a dictionary is an ungrateful and sad work. There are many things which one added or corrected, there is still much more than one omitted. (...)

The company was in its final stage - the first deliveries were already appeared - when Van Dale died of variola in 1872. Work was completed by its disciple Jan Manhave who assumed also the drafting of the following edition of this dictionary.

In Sluis, Van Dale is honoured inter alia by a bust, works of the sculptor Pieter Puijpe inaugurated on September 4th, 1924, and by a commemorative column set up in the cemetery. A school and a street also bear its name. An old convent in periphery of the city, nowadays transformed into three-star hotel, bears the name De Dikke Van Dale .

Sources

Ewoud Sanders, Johan Hendrik Van Paves (1828-1872): Maker van een half woordenboek
Dr. P.G.J van Sterkenburg, Johan Hendrik van Flagstone in zijn opvolgers , Utrecht/Antwerpen, Van Paves Lexicografie, 1983.
Lo van Driel, Een leven in woorden. J.H. van Flagstone, schoolmeester, archivaris, taalkundige , Zutphen, Walburg Sea-green, 2003.

External bonds

Johan Hendrik van Dale on the '' Digitale Bibliotheek voor of Nederlandse Letteren ''
'' Of geschiedenis van Meneer Van Paves ''

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