Helga Ruebsamen

(1934, Batavia - Den Haag 2016). Following the outbreak of the second worldwar the Ruebsamen family came to the Netherlands, only to have to go into hiding when the persecution of the Jews began. Helga Ruebsamen attended grammar school and after that went to work as a journalist. For several years she worked in Paris for the daily newspaper Het Vaderland. In 1964 she made her debut with De kameleon en andere verhalen (The chameleon and other stories). Downfall, impoverishment, hopelessness, death and alcoholisme play an important role in her stories and novels. The autobiographical novel Het lied en de waarheid (The song and the truth) (1997) was nominated for the Gouden Uil as well as the Libris Literature prize. Other important works of hers are: De heksenvriend (The witches friend(1966), Wonderolie (Castor oil)(1970), De ondergang van Makarov (The fall of Makarov (1971), Op Scheveningen (On Scheveningen (1988), De dansende Kater (The dancing tomcat) (1992) en Beer is terug (Bear is back)(1999), De bevrijding (The liberation) (1999), Jonge liefde en oud zeer (Young love and old pain) (2001), De verhalen (The stories) (2001-...). Helga Ruebsamen died in November 2016.