Els Kloek


Else Margaretha Kloek is a Dutch historian and writer specialising in women's history.

Biography

Inspired by Annie M.G. Schmidt, in her youth Kloek aspired to become a poet. Having completed the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden, she studied history at the University of Amsterdam, graduating with a PhD in 1990. She lectured at the universities of Utrecht, Nijmegen, and Rotterdam. She was the initiator and editor-in-chief of the popular science series "Verloren Verleden". Between 1998 and 2004, 24 books in this series were published about famous people and episodes from Dutch history.
From 2003 until 2014, Kloek was affiliated with the Huygens Institute for the History of the Netherlands, part of the Royal Netherlands [Academy of Arts and Sciences]. In this capacity, she oversaw the establishment of the Digital Women's Lexicon of the Netherlands and the reference work 1001 Vrouwen uit de [Nederlandse geschiedenis]. Since 2008, she was project leader of the Biografisch Portaal. Since 2014 she has been an independent historian, and a visiting researcher at the institute. Kloek subsequently served as editor-in-chief of 1001 vrouwen in de 20ste eeuw, published in 2018.

Works

Kloek authored or co-authored the following books, amongst othe works.