Justus van Effen [SEP] native language
Justus van Effen
Justus van Effen (21 February 1684 – 18 September 1735) was a Dutch author, who wrote chiefly in French but also made crucial contributions to Dutch literature. A journalist, he imitated "The Spectator" with the publication of Dutch language "Hollandsche Spectator". He gained international fame as a writer of French periodicals and a translator from English into French, and he is also recognized as one of the most important Dutch language writers of the 18th century and an influential figure of the Dutch Enlightenment.
Life and works.
He was born in Utrecht, the second child of Melchior and Maria van Effen. Justus van Effen planned a scholarly career, and around 1699 he began his studies at the University of Utrecht, but after the early death of his father (on 6 May 1706) he was forced to become a private tutor, taking responsibilities for his mother and sister. He had made acquaintances among French émigrés, in connection with whom he began literary life in 1713 by editing a French journal. From 1715