{{short description|Dutch writer and poet}} {{Infobox writer | name = Johanna Petronella Vrugt | image = Anna Blaman 1955.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Blaman (1955) | pseudonym = Anna Blaman | birth_name = Johanna Petronella Vrugt | birth_date = {{Birth date|1905|01|31|df=yes}} | birth_place = Rotterdam | death_date = {{Death date and age|1960|07|13|1905|01|31|df=yes}} | death_place = Rotterdam | resting_place = | occupation = writer | language = | nationality = Dutch | ethnicity = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | period = | genre = | subject = | movement = | notableworks = ''A matter of life and death'' (Engl.translation 1974) | spouse = | partner = | children = | relatives = | influences = | influenced = | awards = P. C. Hooft Award | signature = | signature_alt = | website = [http://www.dbnl.org/auteurs/auteur.php?id=blam001 dbnl] | portaldisp = }} '''Anna Blaman''', pseudonym of '''Johanna Petronella Vrugt''', (31 January 1905 – 13 July 1960) was a Dutch writer and poet.<ref name=huygens/> She was a recipient of the P. C. Hooft Award. The literary award Anna Blaman Prijs is named after her.
==Biography== The daughter of Pieter Jacob Vrugt and Johanna Karolina Wessels, she was born in Rotterdam.<ref name=huygens/> Vrugt studied French and went on to teach French in high school.<ref name=columbia/> Vrugt lived most of her adult life in her mother's boarding house.<ref name=wilson>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ncN7uneLKrcC&pg=PA1316 |title=An Encyclopedia of Continental Women Writers |volume=1 |last=Wilson |first=Katharina M |page=1316 |year=1991 |isbn=0824085477}}</ref>
She began publishing poetry in the literary magazines ''Criterium'' and ''Helikon''. In 1941, she published her first novel ''Vrouw en vriend'' (Woman and friend). This was followed by ''Eenzaam avontuur'' (Lonely adventure) in 1948. She published a novella ''De kruisvaarder'' (The Crusader) in 1950 and two books of short stories ''Ram Horna'' in 1951 and ''Overdag'' in 1957. The novel ''Op leven en dood'' (A Matter of Life and Death) was published in 1954.<ref name=columbia/>
The "nom de plume" Anna Blaman may have been derived from the name of Alie Bosch, a nurse who treated Vrugt for a kidney disease. The author fell in love with Bosch; although Bosch left to live with a dancing teacher, they did become friends again later in life.<ref name=wilson/>
She received the P. C. Hooft Award in 1956.<ref name=columbia/>
Her last novel ''De verliezers'' (The losers) remained uncompleted but was published posthumously in 1974.<ref name=columbia>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_JLL32RzrkC&pg=PA92 |title=Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature |page=92 |last=Bédé |first=Jean Albert |author2=Edgerton, William Benbow |year=1980 |isbn=0231037171}}</ref>
Vrugt died in Rotterdam at the age of 55<ref name=huygens>{{cite web |url=http://resources.huygens.knaw.nl/vrouwenlexicon/lemmata/data/Vrugt |title=Vrugt, Johanna Petronella (1905-1960) |work=Online Dictionary of Dutch Women|language=nl}}</ref> of a cerebral embolism.<ref name=wilson/>
As a high-profile public figure who was openly homosexual, she helped open doors for Dutch lesbians.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qZfrAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT418 |title=Gay and Lesbian Literary Heritage |last=Summers |first=Claude J |year=2014 |isbn=978-1135303990}}</ref>
The 1990 Dutch film ''Spelen of sterven'' (English title ''To Play or to Die'') was based on one of her stories.<ref>{{IMDb name |id=0086893}}</ref>
== Publication (in English) == * Anna Blaman: ''A matter of life and death''. Transl. by Adrienne Dixon; introd. by Egbert Krispyn. New York, Twayne, 1974. {{ISBN|0-8057-3441-4}}
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category-inline}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blaman, Anna}} Category:1905 births Category:1960 deaths Category:Politicians from Rotterdam Category:Dutch women novelists Category:20th-century pseudonymous women writers Category:20th-century Dutch novelists Category:20th-century Dutch poets Category:Deaths from cerebral embolism Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers Category:20th-century women novelists Category:20th-century Dutch women poets