Youth and background Justus Hiddes
Halbertsma was born on 23 October 1789 in the village of
Grou, in the central part of the Dutch province of
Friesland, He was the eldest son of the baker and small-time
merchant Hidde Joasts Halbertsma (1756–1809) and his wife Ruerdtsje (or Riurtk) He had three younger brothers:
Tsjalling (1792–1852), Justus, Tsjalling and Eeltsje, who, as authors, became known as the
Brothers Halbertsma later in life, About Hidde Halbertsma, the father, much less is known. It is thought that he might have been a
mariner before his marriage. In that period he also immersed himself in the study of the
North Germanic languages. Firstly, he wanted to preserve the Western Frisian language by using it for writing again after it had been used almost exclusively as a
spoken language for three centuries. From that it followed that he had to get the Frisians to read in their own language (otherwise, writing it would not be of much use), and that he should record the Frisian
vocabulary in a
dictionary, which would be the first dictionary ever of the Frisian language. As Halbertsma remained the editor of Eeltsje's work for his entire life, their poetry and
short fiction were strongly connected and published together from the very beginning. For that reason the linguist Foeke Buitenrust Hettema would describe Halbertsma later as the '
literary agent' of his brothers Eeltsje and Tsjalling. This character was in all probability a creation of Eeltsje's. Those were not sold, however, but at the expense of Halbertsma presented to acquaintances of his all over Friesland. In that way he awoke among his public a desire for more reading-matter of this nature. After that, additions were published separately in 1836 (
De Noarger Rún oan Gabe Skroar), 1840 (
Twigen út in Alde Stamme), 1854 (
Leed en Wille en de Flotgerzen), and 1858 (
De Jonkerboer and
Teltsjes fan de Wize Mannen fan Esonstêd). By the end of his life, Halbertsma assisted in the editing of a portion of
Rimen en Teltsjes (
Rhymes and Tales), the comprehensive publication in which all the Halbertsma Brothers' literary works were collected. He even wrote some new pieces for it, such as the short story
It Grouwe Pak ("The Thick Suit"). As a writer, Halbertsma strongly sensed what the public needed, but at the same time he was a somewhat distant and cerebral author, which tended to have an averse effect on his poetry, especially compared to the poems of his brother Eeltsje, who was a much more emotional writer. Nevertheless, at least some of Halbertsma's poems, for instance
Sibbel fan De Ryp ("Sibbel from
De Ryp") and
Nacht ("Night") have made a lasting impression. That said, Halbertsma's short stories were much more acute thanks to his limber use of language, his lively style of writing, and the fact that he refused to mince his words, leading to a rough, scoffing, and sometimes darkly grim atmosphere.
Miswier ("Continuously Bad Weather") and
De Twadde Jûn ("The Second Evening") are also extensive frame-stories, and
De Skearwinkel fan Joutebaas ("Boss Joute's Barbershop") is a
dialogue, which includes the intriguing and completely stand-alone story
Heksershol ("Hole of Witchcraft" – an old nickname for the village of
Molkwerum). a story inspired by a great storm in 1830, in which a
tornado has blown thoughts and
motifs together like whirling leaves.
Oan Eölus could perhaps be seen as a clue that Halbertsma harboured greater literary aspirations than would fit in the
De Lapekoer fan Gabe Skroar. More than fifty years he laboured to complete his dictionary of Western Frisian titled
Lexicon Frisicum, for which he chose
Latin as the descriptive language, but it remained unfinished. He organised it along the lines of the German dictionary by the
Brothers Grimm, but became enmeshed in the addition of insertions and in reworkings, and in writing long
semantic etymologies, a part of the work for which he especially had a predilection. Furthermore, Halbertsma was the driving force behind the commemoration of the life of the famous 17th century Frisian poet
Gysbert Japiks in 1823, which is seen by some as the starting point of the Frisian Movement. Afterwards he published an extensive literary history work under the title
Hulde aan Gysbert Japiks ("Hail to Gysbert Japiks") in two parts in 1824 and 1827. However, it is considered much more likely that the true author of the
Oera Linda Book was the librarian Eelco Verwijs, who lead the Provincial Library of Friesland and who had befriended Halbertsma, or possibly the writer
François Haverschmidt or the ship carpenter and self-taught freethinker Cornelis over de Linden. If Verwijs was the culprit, it is not thought to be impossible that Halbertsma tacitly or even openly provided him with advice.
Death After his retirement, on 26 October 1856, which Halbertsma applied for himself because his heart was not in his duties as a minister anymore, he withdrew into his upstairs apartment, where from that point on he became increasingly more lonely as his family members and friends died away, although his foreign contacts through correspondence remained intact. Justus Hiddes Halbertsma died in Deventer on 27 February 1869, when he was 79 years of age. By that time he had been a
widower for 22 years. He was survived by his sons Watse and Tsjalling. In 1947, the Dr. Joast Halbertsma Award, the highest provincial
decoration in the field of historical (and later more general scientific) research concerning the province of
Friesland was named in his honour. ==Legacy==