Name Willem van Died June 1670, Elmina, Ghana | Role Poet Books Afrikaense Thalia | |
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Willem Godschalck van Focquenbroch (1640 – June 1670) was a Dutch poet and playwright. Aside from satirical and burlesque plays and poetry, he also wrote more serious works in a Petrarchic tradition. Whereas there was little attention for Focquenbroch in the nineteenth century, interest in him renewed in the twentieth century.
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Biography
Willem Godschalck van Focquenbroch was born in Amsterdam to Paulus van Focquenbroch, a merchant originally from Antwerp, and Catharina Sweers, the daughter of an Antwerp carpenter. He was baptised on 26 April 1640 in the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam.
Focquenbroch studied medicine at the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam. He studied theology with professor Hoornbeek at Leiden University between ca. 1568 and 1661. His studies in Leiden were sponsored by the Walloon Church. He promoted in 1662 at Utrecht University on research on sexually transmitted diseases. He then worked in Amsterdam as a doctor for the poor. He wrote his first play, De verwarde jalousy in 1663. In 1668 however, Focquenbroch applied for a job at the Dutch West India Company. He was designated fiscal on the Dutch Gold Coast. On 17 July 1668, Focquenbroch left for Africa. Two years later, in June 1670, Focquenbroch succombed to a disease epidemic on the coast.