Thea Beckman

Theodora Beckmann, better known by her pen name Thea Beckman, was a Dutch author of children's books.

Biography

At a young age, Beckman knew she wanted to be a writer. As a teenager, she would write numerous stories and would listen to various types of music, ranging from classic to exciting film scores, depending on the kind of scene she was writing.
in her twenties, Beckman studied social psychology, attending the University of Utrecht. In wake of the 1929 economic crisis, her father lost his job and Beckman was glad she had managed to finish her studies, especially after World War II occurred.
As a writer, she intended to use her husband's name of Beckmann as her pseudonym. Her publisher urged her to change it to Beckman with only one "n", to avoid her name from appearing "too German", in wake of Germany's negative reputation after World War II.
Beckman is best known for Crusade in Jeans, a 1973 children's time travel novel for which she was awarded the Gouden Griffel. The book describes a children's crusade in 1212 and was adapted into a movie in 2006. She also received notable attention for her trilogy Children of Mother Earth, which depicted a post-apocalyptic earth where soldiers from societies led by men invade and disrupt a newfound Greenlandic society led by women. Though the book contains feminist themes, Beckman did not consider the book's ideology her own, stating: "People are greedy, aggressive and intolerant." She specifically stated that she did not believe a maternal society would function better than a paternal one.

Personal life

In 1945, Thea married Dirk Hendrik Beckmann. Their marriage produced three children, two sons Rien and Jerry and a daughter Marianne. Dirk Beckmann died in 1993.
Thea Beckman was not religious and chose not to reveal a political orientation.
She died in her residence in Bunnik of unknown causes in 2004, aged 80.

Legacy

After her death, the Historisch Nieuwsblad renamed the "Bontekoe-award" as the Thea Beckman Award. In 2004, it was awarded to Benny Lindelauf for his book Negen open armen. In 2005, it was given to Belgian authors Jean-Claude van Rijckeghem and Pat Beirs for the novel Jonkvrouw.

Selected publications

The following is a list of her best known novels:

Met Korilu de Griemel rond
Kruistocht in spijkerbroek – about the Children's Crusade of 1212
Mijn vader woont in Brazilië
The trilogy Geef me de ruimte – about the Hundred Years' War between England and France
*Geef me de ruimte,
*Triomf van de verschroeide aarde
*Het rad van fortuin
Stad in de storm – about Utrecht in the Year of Disaster 1672
Wij zijn wegwerpkinderen
De gouden dolk – about the Second Crusade, 1147–1149
Hasse Simonsdochter – about Jan van Schaffelaar's wife
Wonderkinderen about two especially gifted children
The trilogy Kinderen van Moeder Aarde a futuristic novel set ten centuries after World War III, describing the struggle between utopian Thule and Baden
*Kinderen van Moeder Aarde,
*Het helse paradijs
*Het Gulden Vlies van Thule
De val van de Vredeborch
Een bos vol spoken
Het wonder van Frieswijck
De stomme van Kampen – about the mute painter Hendrick Avercamp
De doge-ring van Venetië – about a trip to Venice to obtain an important relic for an abbey.
Saartje Tadema – about an orphan girl in the Amsterdam orphanage
Vrijgevochten – about a sailor boy who is captured as a slave
''Gekaapt!''