View source for Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate

{{Short description|Dutch divine, prose writer and poet (1819–1889)}}
{{hatnote|Not to be confused with his son, artist [[Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate]] (1850-1929)}}
{{One source|date=February 2012}}

[[File:Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate.jpg|thumb|Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate.]] 
'''Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate''' (December 23, 1819{{snd}}December 24, 1889) was a Dutch [[Anglicanism#Anglican divines|divine]], prose writer and [[poet]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bran038biog01_01/bran038biog01_01_2192.php |website=DBNL |access-date=25 January 2024 |language=nl}}</ref>

==Life==
He was born at [[The Hague]].
He started in life as a lawyer's clerk. It was his friend, Dr Heldring, pastor at Hemmen, in [[Gelderland]], who, discovering in Ten Kate the germs of poetical genius, enabled him to study [[theology]] at the [[Utrecht University|University of Utrecht]] (1838–43).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Having completed his studies, Ten Kate became pastor at Middelburg, Amsterdam, and other places, meanwhile developing well-nigh ceaseless activity, both in prose and lyric poetry. Among his prose works may be mentioned the travel papers (Rhine, 1861; Italy, 1857–62), ''Christelijke Overdenkingen'' ("Thoughts of a Christian," 1840-52), and other religious studies.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His early poetry was in the main original. The best known of his poems were:
*''Ahasverus op de Grimsel'' ("Ahasuerus on the Grimsel," 1840)
*''Zangen des Tijds'' ("Songs of the Times," 1841)
*''Legenden en Mengelpoëzie'' ("Legends and Miscellaneous Poetry," 1846)
*''In den Bloemkof'' ("In the Flower Garden," 1851)
*''De Schepping'' ("The Creation," 1866)
*''De Planeten'' ("The Planets," 1869)
*''De Jaargetijden'' ("The Seasons," 1871)
*''De Psalmen'' ("The Psalms," 1874)
*''De Vrouw in het Nederlandsch Lied'' ("Woman in Dutch Song," 1882)
*''Palm-takken en Dichtbloemen'' ("Palm Branches and Poetical Flowers," 1884){{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Ten Kate reached the pinnacle of his poetic fame in ''The Creation'', ''The Planets'', and ''The Seasons''. These poems certainly show a masterly grasp of his mother tongue and a wonderful facility of expression, coupled with graceful vigour and fertile fancy. These qualities he also plentifully displayed in the innumerable translations he made of many of the masterpieces of foreign poetry in nearly every European language.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

He had not only an extraordinary aptitude for learning alien idioms, but also the gift of translating foreign lyrics into clear, fluent and beautiful Dutch verse. Ten Kate's versatility in this respect has never been equalled; it extended from [[Torquato Tasso|Tasso]] and [[Hans Christian Andersen|Andersen]] to [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], [[Friedrich Schiller|Schiller]], [[Victor Hugo]], [[John Milton|Milton]], [[Alfred Lord Tennyson|Tennyson]] and [[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow|Longfellow]]. Ten Kate died in [[Amsterdam]] in 1889.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His complete ''Poetic Works'' were published after his death in 12 volumes (Leiden, 1891).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

==Family==
He was the uncle of the anthropologist, [[Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate (anthropologist)|Herman Frederik Carel ten Kate]], and the father of painter Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate (1850-1929).<ref>{{cite web |title=Kate, Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten (1850-1929) |url=https://research.rkd.nl/nl/detail/https%3A%2f%2fdata.rkd.nl%2fartists%2f88593 |website=research.rkd.nl |publisher=RKD Research |access-date=25 January 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten Kate Jr. |url=https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/bran038biog01_01/bran038biog01_01_2193.php |website=DBNL |access-date=25 January 2024 |language=nl}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Kate, Jan Jacob Lodewijk ten (1850-1929) |url=http://www.biografischportaal.nl/persoon/49164638 |website=www.biografischportaal.nl |access-date=26 January 2024}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
'''Attribution:'''
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Ten Kate, Jan Jacob Lodewijk|volume=26|page=618}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=7419| name=Jan Jakob Lodewijk Kate}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate}}
* {{Librivox author |id=8554}}

{{Authority control}}

{{EB1911 article with no significant updates}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Katen, Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten}}
[[Category:Dutch male poets]]
[[Category:Utrecht University alumni]]
[[Category:1819 births]]
[[Category:1889 deaths]]
[[Category:Clergy from The Hague]]
[[Category:19th-century Dutch poets]]
[[Category:19th-century Dutch male writers]]
[[Category:Writers from The Hague]]