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{{Short description|West Frisian poet (1603–1666)}}
{{Expand West Frisian|topic=lit|fa=y|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Gysbert Japiks
| image         = Gysbert Japix portrait by Matthijs Harings.tif
| alt           = 
| caption       = Gysbert Japicx, 1637, portrait by [[Matthijs Harings]]
| birth_name    = Gysbert Japiks Holckema
| birth_date    = 1603
| birth_place   = [[Bolsward]], [[Republic of the Netherlands|Netherlands]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age|df=y|1666|||1603||}}
| death_place   = Bolsward, Netherlands
| nationality   = [[Netherlands|Dutch]]
| other_names   = 
| occupation    = {{hlist|Poet|teacher}}
| years_active  = 
| known_for     = 
| notable_works = ''Friessche Tjerne'' (1640)
}}
'''Gysbert Japiks{{efn|Often written as ''Japicx'' or ''Japix''.}} Holckema''', better known as simply '''Gysbert Japiks''' (1603&ndash;1666), was a [[West Frisians|West Frisian]] writer, poet, [[schoolmaster]], and [[Cantor (Christianity)|cantor]].

==Life==
Japiks was born in [[Bolsward]], Friesland, as Gysbert Japiks Holckema or Holkema. Japiks used his [[patronym]] and not his surname in his writing.<ref name="sirkwy">{{cite web|url=https://www.sirkwy.frl/index.php/skriuwers-biografyen/36-g/356-gysbert-japix |title=Gysbert Japix|website=Sirkwy.frl |access-date=12 June 2020|language=fy}}</ref> Japiks was a school teacher by profession. In 1656, three of his children had died of the [[Bubonic plague|plague]] and Japiks's eyesight had been affected by the disease. Except for his son Salves, he would lose all his children and his wife to disease. In 1666, Japiks died of the plague.<ref name="sirkwy"/>

Japiks started writing from an early age. He wrote in [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Middle Frisian language|Frisian]] and [[Latin]].<ref name="sirkwy"/> He admired the [[Latin]] poets [[Horace]] and [[Ovid]], but was also an enthusiast for his own West Frisian ''memmetaal'', or [[mother tongue]].<ref name="jellema"/> His first known poetry dates back from 1639. In his early works Japiks portrayed the life of rural Friesland, and was characterised by excessive [[alliteration]]. Much of his work were translations and reworkings of Latin poets, but also the Dutch poets [[Vondel]] and [[Constantijn Huygens]] featured prominently in his work. His first published work in book form was ''Friessche Tjerne'' (1640).<ref name="sirkwy"/> In 1644, [[Franciscus Junius (the younger)|Franciscus Junius]] was researching Old German languages, and visited Japiks for work and information about the West Frisian language.<ref name="biograph">{{cite web|title=Nieuw Nederlandsch biografisch woordenboek. Deel 1|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/molh003nieu01_01/molh003nieu01_01_1895.php|website=Digital Library for Dutch Literature |access-date=12 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref> Around 1650, Japiks and Abbe Freerks Gabbema started a letter exchange most of which still exists in which Gabbema encouraged Japiks to publish and avoid [[Dutch orthography]] in his Frisian writings. His publisher Rintjus however was reluctant to publish in Frisian.<ref name="biograph"/>

His work was the most notable in that language of his day and had the effect of elevating Frisian to literary status.<ref name="jellema">Roderick Jellema, ''Country fair: poems from Friesland since 1945 in Frisian and English'' (Eerdmans, 1985), pp. xiv–xv</ref> Japiks's orthography with a much more nuanced and phonetically correct spelling which is significantly different from the Dutch orthography,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_nie012199601_01/_nie012199601_01_0007.php|title=Nieuw Letterkundig Magazijn. Jaargang 14|website=Digital Library for Dutch Literature|access-date=13 June 2020|date=1996|language=nl}}</ref> is very similar to the current official spelling.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://taalweb.frl/paadwizer|title=Taalweb Frysk (official spelling rules)|access-date=13 June 2020|website=Taalweb.frl|language=fy}}</ref> The poems of Japiks were published in ''Friessche Tjerne'' (1640) and also posthumously in ''Fryske Rijmlerye'' (1668).<ref>Horst Haider Munske, Nils Århammar, Volker F. Faltings, ''Handbuch des Friesischen / Handbook of Frisian Studies'' (2001), p. 710</ref><ref name="sirkwy"/>

==Songs==
Japiks's Frisian songs were [[contrafacta]] to well-known tunes by composers such as [[Goudimel]], [[Louis Bourgeois (composer)|Bourgeois]], and [[Pierre Guédron]]. A selection from them was recorded by Frisian singers and [[Camerata Trajectina]] in 2003.<ref>''Gysbert Japix (1603-1666)'', Frisian soloists: Tetsje van der Kooi, soprano; Femke de Boer, alto; Jaap Hoekstra, tenor; Siebren Kramer, baritone; Rozemarijn Palma, song; GLO 6055</ref>

===Example===
First part of the song {{lang|fy|Wolkom freugde fan 'e wrâld}} in the original, modern and English version:

{|
|-----
|
:''Wol-komm' freugde fenne Wrâd,''
:''Haed-ljeacht oerre Stierren,''
:''Griente, Kruwd in Blomme-Fâd,''
:''Mietter fen uwz jieren,''
:''Hijmmel-eag dy 't al oer-sjocht''
:''Dy uwz Dauwe in Miste' ontjocht''
:''Dy uwz 't fjild bemiellet,''
:''Ja mey goud oer-striellet.''
||||||||||||||||||||
:''Wolkom freugde fan 'e wrâld,''
:''haadljocht oer de stjirren,''
:''griente, krûd blommefâd,''
:''mjitter fan ús jierren,''
:''himeleach, dy't al oersjocht''
:''dy ús dauwe en mist ûntsjocht''
:''dy ús 't fjild bemielet.''
:''Ja, mei goud oerstrielet. <ref>Frysk Lieteboek, Afûk, Ljouwert, 2000 (p 42)</ref>''
||||||||||||||||||||
:''Welcome joy of the world,''
:''headlight over the stars,''
:''greens, herb and flower custodian,''
:''measurer of our years,''
:''heaven-eye that oversees all''
:''that pulls us away dew and fog''
:''that paints us the field.''
:''Yes, radiates it with gold.''
|}

==Gysbert Japicx House==
{{anchor|Gysbert Japicx House}}
The house in which Gysbert Japiks was born, was bought in 1979 by his descendants Arjen Holkema and Trijntje Holkema-Slot and turned into a museum. The museum was opened 25 September 1997 by [[Aad Nuis]], [[State Secretary]] of [[Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Netherlands)|Education, Culture and Science]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gysbertjapicx.nl/gysbert-japicxhus/|title=Gysbert Japicxhûs|website=Gysbert Japicx.nl|access-date=12 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref> The House also contains the local [[Vereniging voor Vreemdelingenverkeer|tourist agency]] and a bookstore specializing in the Frisian language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.museum.frl/musea/gysbert-japicxhus/|title=Gysbert Japicxhûs|website=Museum.frl|access-date=12 June 2020|language=nl}}</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=japi001 Gysbert Japicx at Digital Library for Dutch Literature] (in Frisian and Dutch - ''Wirken'' available for free download)
*[https://www.gysbertjapicx.nl/ Gysbert Japicx House] (in Dutch and Frisian)

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Japiks, Gysbert}}
[[Category:1603 births]]
[[Category:1666 deaths]]
[[Category:17th-century deaths from plague (disease)]]
[[Category:Dutch male poets]]
[[Category:Neo-Latin poets]]
[[Category:West Frisian-language writers]]
[[Category:People from Bolsward]]