Annie Salomons (1885–1980)

Annie Salomons (full name Anna Maria Francisca van Wageningen-Salomons) was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. After graduating from gymnasium (high school), she studied Dutch literature, first at Leiden University and then at the University of Utrecht. She ended her studies prematurely in 1910 and lived with her parents until her marriage in 1924 to Henri van Wageningen, a lawyer who was a few years younger than she and from a Dutch Reformed family. Before their engagement, he converted to Annie's Roman Catholic faith. From 1924 to 1927, the couple lived in Medan on the island of Sumatra, in the Dutch East Indies. After three years they returned to the Netherlands to settle in The Hague, where van Wageningen had been appointed a judge. Originally a poet, Annie made a name for herself as a novelist; many of her books focused on the relationship between men and women. Some were published under the pseudonym Ada Gerlo. Annie was a friend of many of the leading writers of the day, whom she described in her memoir Herinneringen uit de oude tijd aan schrijvers die ik persoonlijk heb gekend (Memories of the Old Days of Writers I've Known Personally). In 1975, she was awarded the Jacobsonprijs for her body of work.