Andreas Burnier

Burnier debuted in the literary magazine Tirade with her story Verschrikkingen van het Noorden. (the title of which translates as something like "A Contented Laugh"). In it she wrote about her homosexuality, a topic that had previously not been widely discussed in Dutch literature. == Topics of her novels ==

Notable topics Burnier writes about are powerlessness, frustration and anger which she experienced by the masculine-oriented society. This caused her to write and think about herself and if she was a man trapped in a woman's body. The main topic of Het jongensuur is a young girl who wonders if she is not a boy. A lot of Burnier's novels are autobiographical like her debut novel Een tevreden lach. Her protagonist struggles with her identity as a developing young woman. De wereld is van glas also contains autobiographical fragments. The main character is looking for a person who can help her reconcile with all the different characters she experiences. She finds this reconciliation in Judaism. After Burnier's father died she reconciled with Judaism and her books were more oriented on this religion. Het jongensuur is the only book from her earlier work which features a Jewish protagonist. == Feminism and activism ==

Burnier was also a pioneer during the second feminist wave, often writing about the inborn misfortune of having a female body. Burnier saw feminism as a positive force for remaking civilization. She was an outspoken defender of gay rights and was opposed to abortion and euthanasia. In her argumentation of why she was opposed to abortion, euthanasia and genetic manipulation, she referred to the eugenetics of the Nazi-ideology. == Personal life ==

Burnier was born Catharina Irma Dessaur in The Hague, The Netherlands to Jewish parents Salomon Dessaur and Rosa Louisa Jacobs. Like many other Jewish children in Europe, she went into hiding during World War II, and was separated from her parents for three years (1942–1945), hiding in sixteen different locations under the alias Ronnie van Dijk. Prior to this, she worked with the Ministry of CRM and the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology in Leiden. Beginning in 1983, Burnier had a relationship with Ineke van Mourik. Burnier died unexpectedly in Amsterdam at the age of 71 due to a stroke. She was buried at the Liberaal Joodse Begraafplaats Gan Hasjalom in Hoofddorp. == Pseudonym ==

Burnier chose a pseudonym, because she wanted to keep her private person strictly separated from her literary person. This was necessary, because she did not want to be known as the author of a possibly controversial book, which could have hurt her academic career. She chose a male pseudonym, because it was easier if she was not seen as a female writer, as female writers were often seen as if they were all the same. Later, when her true identity was revealed, this still happened to her. She tried to turn her own name in a pseudonym which resulted in the name Andreas. After many failed attempts, she chose a name that was familiar to her. A jeweler's family with the name Burnier lived in The Hague. In addition, one of the streets is called the Burniersstraat, which housed the editorial secretariat of Hollands Maandblad, a literary magazine. This was a magazine Burnier would later publish in. In an interview with Klaas Pereboom, she stated that she does not have a first name. Officially she is called Catharina Irma, but in the war she was called Ronnie, and in her adolescence she was called Reinier, after a pseudonym she once used, and later people used the name Andreas. She said she had a hard time with the fact that she did not have a real name, but stated that it could not be solved anymore. == Bibliography ==