Lennaert Nijgh

Nijgh was an only child[1] and grew up in Heemstede. He went to the Coornhert Lyceum in Haarlem, together with his childhood friend Boudewijn de Groot. After two years Nijgh left the school, claiming that he was thrown out.[2] He continued his education at the Kennemer Lyceum in Overveen. In the meantime he stayed friends with De Groot. He then went to the Netherlands Film Academy, but never graduated.[1]

Nijgh's breakthrough started when the record label Philips published the single Een meisje van 16, which was an adaptation of Charles Aznavour's ballad Une enfant (de seize ans), and was sung by Boudewijn de Groot.[3] Nijgh was coached by Ernst van Altena, who had previously translated works by Jacques Brel.[3]

In 1968 Nijgh and De Groot temporarily stopped working together. However, in 1973 the two started collaborating again.[3]

Nijgh married three times, but never had any children. His first marriage was in 1969, with Dutch singer Astrid Nijgh (née De Backer). The couple divorced halfway through the seventies, but continued working together professionally.[1] Nijgh married two more times after that.[3][4]

Nijgh owned a ship named De Jonge Jacob (The Young Jacob), that he bought from a fisherman from Urk in 1969. Nijgh was a frequent visitor of Urk during his life.[5] He used his ship to sail to England every year.[1][5] His neighbour was Mart Smeets and they always greeted one another with the line "Dag meneer van de sport/kunst" (Hello sir of the sports/arts).[6]

Nijgh's parents passed away in 2000, after which he wrote melancholy columns for a while.[1]

Nijgh died on November 28, 2002 of gastrointestinal bleeding. He was hospitalized at that time because of kidney stones.[1]

Nijgh wrote for almost his entire life, except for times where he suffered from writer's block. He started by writing columns in the newspaper of the Coornhert Lyceum.[1] He also wrote columns in the Haarlems Dagblad using the pseudonym Zeepbel.[1] He wrote several books (including a novel named Tobia). Three years before his death Nijgh wrote a book named Met Open Mond, in which he described the history of Van der Pigge, a pharmacy in Haarlem that still sells the book.

• Golden Harp 1970 of Stichting Conamus[1][3]
• Literaire Cultuurprijs (Prize for Literary Culture) of Hilversum 1974[1]
• In 1999 Nijgh and De Groot were knighted in the Order of the Netherlands Lion.

Sculpture to honour Lennaert Nijgh

In 2005, a sculpture in honour of Nijgh was revealed on the Oude Groenmarkt in Haarlem.[1] The sculpture, consisting of the letters A and Z was designed by Marinus Boezem. According to Boezem, the first and last letter of the alphabet symbolize the material that writers and poets use to create their art.

In November 2007 the biography Testament, about Nijgh's life, written by Peter Voskuil, was published.

In 2014 Buma created the Lennaert Nijgh Prize for best lyricist.

The Lennaert Nijghpad in Haarlem was named after him.

Nijgh's written testimony is stored in the Letterkundig Museum in The Hague.[3] In 2013 fifteen unknown texts were discovered. De Groot did not want to use them, instead making them available to Frank Boeijen and Han Kooreneef for a theater show about Nijgh's life, in which Jim de Groot, Izaline Calister and Sjors van der Panne will perform.[9]

• Het mooiste van Lennaert Nijgh (CD) Universal 9807466, 2003. Lyrics by Nijgh, music by De Dijk, Liesbeth List, Ramses Shaffy, Rob de Nijs, Joost Nuissl, Cobi Schreijer, Boudewijn and Marcel de Groot, Herman van Veen, Astrid Nijgh and Stef Bos.

• Feestje Bouwen 1962
• De Aanslag 1963, "paasvakantie"
• Illusie 1964
• Elsje in Wonderland 1966?
• Vox Humama 1966
• Een Vreemde Vogel (1967) with Boudewijn de Groot, Martine Bijl, Jan Blokker and Ramses Shaffy.
• Een tip van de sluier 1979
• Lieve jongens 1980

• Voor de overlevenden en andere liedjes (1966)
• Tobia, of De ontdekking van het masturbariaat (1971) – 2e druk 1991: ISBN 90-5429-003-X
• De dynastie der kleine luyden (1974) – ISBN 906010365-3
• Tachtig teksten (1975) – ISBN 9789060103661
• Journaal van Bontekoe (translation) (1989) – ISBN 90-6455-089-1 (available through DBNL)
• Stad van hout: columns uit Haarlems Dagblad, 1986–1989 (1989) — ISBN 90-71380-58-0
• Moord en doodslag: twaalf beroemde Nederlandse moordzaken (1990) — ISBN 9789071380945
• Tekst en uitleg: liedteksten 1964–1990 (1991) — ISBN 90-71380-71-8
• Haarlem bestaat niet (1996) – ISBN 90-9009197-1
• Met open mond. 150 jaar Drogisterij A.J. van der Pigge (1999) – ISBN 90-9012309-1
• Ik doe wat ik doe [boek + CD] (2000) – ISBN 90-388-5505-2