Haverschmidt studied
Calvinist theology at
Leiden University, graduating in 1858. He successively became minister in
Foudgum,
Den Helder and
Schiedam. During his student days, he had some of his poetry published in student magazines under the pen name of Piet Paaltjens, around whom a playful but elaborate
mystification was created as Haverschmidt kept his poetry separate from his "serious" prose and sermons, not unlike
Nicolaas Beets. He became a prime suspect for being the
anonymous author of the
Oera Linda Book, the inferred reason being a
practical joke (a parody of the Bible to lampoon
fundamentalist Christians). However, many of his contemporaries believed the book to be authentic. This would have prevented Haverschmidt and his collaborators (if they were indeed the authors of the supposedly millennia-old text) from unmasking their hoax, which consequently completely backfired. Haverschmidt became progressively more depressed, especially after his wife's death in 1891, and ultimately committed suicide in 1894. == Bibliography ==