Herman de Vries de Heekelingen


Herman de Vries de Heekelingen was a Dutch scholar and author who lived the latter half of his life in Switzerland. He was professor of palaeography at the Catholic University of Nijmegen and was director of its library from 1923–1927.
De Vries authored of a number of books on the Jewish question, and has been described as an antisemitic ideologue.

Life

De Vries was born in Groningen, Netherlands, and raised in a well-to-do Calvinist merchant family. In 1908, he converted to Roman Catholicism, and began his studies at the University of Fribourg, where he received his doctorate in 1917 with a thesis on Geneva as the birthplace of Dutch Calvinism. He acquired Swiss citizenship in 1921. In 1923, he was appointed to the newly established Radboud University Nijmegen as associate professor of palaeography and diplomatics, and head of the University Library. His politics were anti-modernist and Integralist, and he was a member of the right-leaning Catholic Commission Catholique de Coopération Intellectuelle.
In 1927, he had a falling out with the management of the University and took his leave. Resettling in Switzerland, he took de Heekelingen to his name. The same year, De Vries founded the Centre International d'Études sur le Fascisme in Lausanne, which was devoted to documentation, research, and international distribution of fascist ideology. Among prominent board members were Giovanni Gentile, James Strachey Barnes, Marcel Boulenger, and Lord Sydenham of Combe. On several occasions, De Vries had a personal audience with Benito Mussolini.
In 1932, he founded a Centre International de Documentation sur les Organisations Politiques at Château de la Maison Blanche in Yvorne, Vaud, Switzerland. The same year he published a collection of quotations to Zucht ) from the writings of leading National Socialist ideologues. The Centre reportedly received discrete contributions from Dorothy Downe.
In the 1930s, De Vries maintained diverse contacts with individuals and obscure associations of an "antisemitic International"; such as the "Pan-Aryan Union" founded by and Edwin I. Cooper in Vienna; the Princess Mary Karadja, who founded and led a "Christlich-arische Schutz-liga" in Locarno; and with Ulrich Fleischhauer's Erfurt-based Welt-Dienst. He was a regular contributor to Ernest Jouin's anti-semitic and anti-masonic . De Vries traveled in Switzerland, France, and Germany giving lectures on the "jüdischen Bedrohung".
In 1940, De Vries was called to testify for the defense during a trial in Switzerland. In the case, three young men were accused of distributing an anti-semitic tract by Philippe Lugrin which quoted anti-Christian passages from the Talmud. Prior to testifying, De Vries reportedly traveled to Rome to consult with Augustin Bea.

Works

Genève pépinière du calvinisme hollandais Les lois somptuaires de la République de Genève au XVIe siècle Correspondance de Bonaventura Vulcanius pendant son sejour à Cologne, Genève et Bâle Genève pépinière du calvinisme hollandais. Tome II. Correspondance des Élèves de Théodore de Bèze après leur départ de Genève Carmina Arminii: Quelques poésies de Jacques Arminius composées pendant son séjour en Suisse. Publiées... et annotées par H. de Vries de Heekelingen Un portrait inconnu de Théodore de Bèze: Avec la reproduction de 5 portraits Universiteitsbibliotheek en instituutsboekerijen: antwoord aan Prof. Dr. W. Mulder Het fascisme en zijn resultaten
  • * An Italian translation by S. Biraghi Lossetti was published as Il fascismo e i suoi risultati
  • * Published in French as ' Die nationalsozialistische Weltanschauung: Ein Wegweiser durch die nationalsozialistische Literatur: 500 markante Zitate, zusammengestellt und herausgegeben von Univ. Prof. Dr. H. de Vries de Heekelingen Israél. Son passé. Son avenir
  • * Published in Italian as Israele; il suo passato, il suo avvenire
  • * A Polish translation by J.M. Czerniewskiej was published as Izrael, jego przeszłość i przyszłość with a foreword by Ludomiła Czerniewskiego
  • * Published in Spanish as Israel. Son passé. Son avenir
  • * A Swedish translation by Olof Örström was published as Israel: Historia och leverne genom tiderna
  • * A Dutch translation by J. van Starkenburg was published as De Joden in de Christelijke samenleving
  • ' L'orgueil juif
  • * Published in Spanish as El orgullo judío Les Protocoles des sages de Sion constituent-ils un faux? Juifs et catholiques Le Talmud et le non-juif: une expertise preparée pour le Tribunal d'Oron siégeant à Lausanne les 15, 16 et 17 janvier 1940; contenant une critique de l'expertise de Emile Golay et quelques commentaires sur l'expertise de Max Haller L'Antisémitisme italien
  • * Published in English as The Jewish Question in Italy Le peuple juif. Édition définitive de "Israël, son passé, son avenir" Het Joodsche volk, with a foreword by René Lambrichts