Partner Wim Schuhmacher, Willem Bruno of Albada, Guus van Bladel, Joop Schafthuizen
Queer Places:
Van Hallstraat 25, 1051 GX Amsterdam, Netherlands
Ploegstraat 89, 1097 WB Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jozef Israëlskade 415, 1074 ST Amsterdam, Netherlands
Nieuwe Suikerhofje, Prinsengracht 385-395, 1016 HL Amsterdam, Netherlands
Deurloostraat 18, 1078 VS Amsterdam, Netherlands
Achtergracht 7, 1017 WL Amsterdam, Netherlands
Shaftesbury Villas, 5 Allen St, Kensington, London W8 6UZ, UK
17 Regent Square, London WC1H 8HZ, UK
Johannes Vermeerstraat 51, 1071 DL Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oudezijds Achterburgwal 55, 1012 AT Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Eerste Rozendwarsstraat 9, 1016 PC Amsterdam, Netherlands
Doarpswei 34, 8658 LK Greonterp, Netherlands
Dubbelmondehof 2, 1069 XM Amsterdam, Netherlands
Plantage Kerklaan 43, 1018 CV Amsterdam, Netherlands
Boslaan 34, 3904 KJ Veenendaal, Netherlands
Nieuwe Markt 12, 6001 EL Weert, Netherlands
La Grâce, Impasse Gérard Reve, 26160 Le Poët-Laval, France
579 Main Rd, Harwich CO12 4NH, UK
De Savornin Lohmanlaan 24, 3118 RS Schiedam, Netherlands
Posthoornstraat 11, 9870 Zulte, Belgium
Machelen French Military Cemetery Zulte, Arrondissement Gent, East Flanders (Oost-Vlaanderen), Belgium
.jpg/220px-Gerard_Kornelis_van_het_Reve_(1963).jpg)
Gerard Kornelis van het Reve (14 December 1923 – 8 April 2006) was a
Dutch writer. He started writing as Simon van het Reve and adopted the shorter
Gerard Reve in 1973.[1]
Together with
Willem Frederik Hermans and
Harry Mulisch, he is considered one of the "Great Three" of Dutch post-war
literature. His 1981 novel De vierde man (The
Fourth Man) was the basis for
Paul Verhoeven's 1983
film.
Probably through Hanny Michaelis, a friend of Nico Donkersloot, James S. Holmes and Hans van Marle came into contact with Michaelis' then husband, Reve. Reve wanted to publish in English, and while working on the translation of one of his books, he fell hopelessly in love with Holmes, the first man he had sex with. For Holmes, who would always have an open relationship with Van Marle, it was just about sex: 'I think I was just a little further along than Gerard at that time.'
Reve was one of the first homosexual authors to come out in the Netherlands.[2] He often wrote explicitly about erotic attraction, sexual relations and intercourse between men, which many readers considered shocking. However, he did this in an ironic, humorous and recognizable way, which contributed to making homosexuality acceptable for many of his readers. Another main theme, often in combination with eroticism, was religion. Reve himself declared that the primary message in all of his work was salvation from the material world we live in.
Gerard Reve was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and was the brother of the Slavicist and essayist Karel van het Reve, who became a staunch anti-communist in his own way; the personal rapport between the brothers was not good. They broke up altogether in the 1980s.
In 1953 Reve shared a room in London with Edmund Tracey and later an apartment with Angus Wilson. In 1954 he shared a room with John Minton. In 1955 he shared rooms first with Perkin Walker and later again with Tracey. Always in 1955 he shared rooms with Eugene Herrington. From 1955 to 1956 he shared rooms with Peter Nathan.
Wim "Wimie" Schuhmacher was Reve's life companion in the late 1950s. He was Reve's second great love. The relationship lasted until 1963, when he left Reve for a certain M., 'the first plumbing prize animal'. After this, Reve had an affair with Willem Bruno of Albada, better known as Tigger. Together with Reve, Schuhmacher lived in the red light district in Amsterdam, on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal. For the first few years, Reve, Reve's then-wife Hanny Michaelis and Schuhmacher lived together in the building. Michaelis lived in the front house, Reve and Schuhmacher behind. Wim Schuhmacher is regularly encountered in Reve's early books under the name 'Wimie', including In On the Way to the End. In 1980 the letter book Letters to Wimie, 1959-1963 was published, which gives a picture of their relationship from Reve's perspective.
In the 1970s he lived with Tigger and another man, Woelrat. When the relationship with Tigger and Woelrat ends, Reve moves in with Guus van Bladel in Weert. He also bought a house in the southern French village of Le Poët-Laval, which he called La Grâce, or The Winter Palace. Here he lived and wrote most of the time until 1993.
In 1980, Reve also bought a house in Dovercourt near Harwich: Sea View. He rarely stays there and sells it again in 1987. In the meantime, Reve started a relationship with Joop Schafthuizen, alias Matroos Vos of Matroos Vosch. When Reve is in the Netherlands, he lived with Vos in Schiedam. In 1993, the couple moved to Machelen, Belgium. La Grâce was sold in early 2001.
During the last years of his life, he began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease, and he died of it, in Zulte, Belgium, on 8 April 2006 at the age of 82. Reve was buried on April 15 in the centre of the cemetery "Nieuwe Begraafplaats" in Machelen-aan-de-Leie.
My published books:
