The Brothers Halbertsma, members of the Halbertsma family, were three brothers born in the Frisian village of Grou towards the end of the 18th century, who played a role of crucial importance for the development of a written literature in the Western Frisian language. These three brothers were:Justus Hiddes Halbertsma (1789–1869). He studied theology in Amsterdam, and afterwards was a Mennonite minister in Bolsward and since 1822 in Deventer. He was a somewhat distant and cerebral author of short stories and poems. In his works ideas were more important than emotions. Besides his literary achievements he was also a scholar of linguistics, and with his (unfinished) Lexicon Frisicum he took the first step towards the composition of a dictionary of the Western Frisian language. Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma (1792–1852). He kept their father's bakery running after the untimely death of both their parents in 1809, later becoming an international merchant in dairy products. He lived in Grou his entire life, and wrote for the most part humorous rhymes and poems. Those were generally not of the same literary quality as his brothers' works, but became quite popular with the common man. Eeltsje Hiddes Halbertsma (1797–1858). He studied medicine in Leiden and Heidelberg, and became a physician in Grou. His poems and short stories were much more emotional than those of his brother Justus, and his poetry in particular is still very much admired. His oeuvre included the poem De Alde Friezen, which in 1875 became the national anthem of the Western Frisian people.