Johan Huizinga
(born Dec. 7, 1872,
Groningen
, Neth.?died Feb. 1, 1945, De Steeg) was a Dutch historian internationally recognized for his
Herfsttij der middeleeuwen
(1919;
The Waning of the Middle Ages
).
Huizinga was educated at the universities of Groningen and Leipzig. After teaching
history
in Haarlem and lecturing in
Indian literature
at Amsterdam, he was professor of history first at Groningen (1905?15) and then at Leiden until 1942, when he was held as a hostage by the Nazis. He remained under open arrest until his death.
Britannica Quiz
History Buff Quiz
His first works dealt with Indian literature and
cultures
, but he established his reputation with
The Waning of the Middle Ages,
which examines life and thought in France and Holland in the 14th and 15th centuries. The book’s lively and well-modulated style makes it literature as well as history, as is also true of
Erasmus
(1924), a sympathetic study of a central
intellectual
figure of the 16th century. Huizinga’s other chief works are
In de schaduwen van Morgen
(1935;
In the Shadow of Tomorrow
), “a
diagnosis
of the spiritual distemper of our time,” and
Homo Ludens
(1938), a study of the play element in
culture
.