Cees Nooteboom, one of the most important Dutch writers in the Netherlands, died this Wednesday at the age of 92, as confirmed by his Dutch publisher, De Bezige Bij. The author, who was very successful abroad with his travel stories, covered all literary genres until he was very old, and lived part of the year at his home in Menorca. Author of reports, diaries, collections of stories, essays, art and criticism and, of course, novels, he considered himself above all a poet. Especially because poetry in their language is not usually one of the most translated. He collaborated with EL PAÍS on various occasions.
Born in The Hague as Cornelis Johannes Jacobus Maria Nooteboom in 1933, he was sent to religious schools in other cities: Venray and Eindhoven. His Catholic upbringing would later be reflected in his work, and after working in an office after finishing high school, he discovered his love for traveling and writing in his twenties. His first novel, Philip and the othersis from 1955. A few years later he debuted in poetry with The dead are looking for a home. With his story of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, he began a series of reports that he combined with poems and novels. His most famous work, titled rituals, It portrays the sixties in Amsterdam through characters who face existence in a different and painful way. Nooteboom frequently sounded like a candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature, and he took care of organizing his literary legacy until the last moment. In 2004, he won the PC Hooft award, the most important national literature award.
For his first partner, the Dutch singer Liesbeth List, he wrote lyrics for her songs. The photographer Simone Sassen, with whom he lived until his death, took the images for his books. He spent the last stage of his life with her in Menorca, according to the Dutch media.