Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft (* March 16, 1581 - † May 21, 1647), was a Dutch historian, poet and playwright from the period known as the Dutch Golden Age.

Life

Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, often abbreviated to P.C. Hooft, was born in Amsterdam as the son of the then mayor, Cornelis Hooft .

He founded the Muiderkring, a literary society located at his home, the Muiderslot, the castle of Muiden in which he got to live due to his appointment as sheriff of Muiden. Among the members were the poets and playwrights G.A. Bredero and Joost van den Vondel.

In 1647, he died at the age of 66 in The Hague.

Work

Hooft was a prolific writer of plays, poems and letters, but he concentrated from 1618 onwards on writing his history of the Netherlands (Nederlandsche historiën), inspired by Roman historian Tacitus. He focussed primarily on the Eighty Years' War between The Netherlands and Spain.

As a poet, he was influenced by his Renaissance contemporaries in France and Italy.

Plays

• Achilles en Polyxena (1614)
• Theseus en Ariane (1614)
• Granida (1615)
• Baeto, oft oorsprong der Holanderen (1626)

Poems

• Emblemata amatoria: afbeeldingen van minne (1611)
• Warenaar (1670)

History

• Nederlandse historiën (1642-1656)

External links

• Works of Hooft in the Laurens Janszoon Coster project (Dutch)
• P.C. Hooft (1581-1647) - pictures of P.C. Hooft