Hans Antonius Faverey (14 September 1933, in Paramaribo – 8 July 1990, in Amsterdam) was a Dutch poet of Surinamese descent. Besides being a poet, he was a lecturer at the psychology department of the Universiteit Leiden.

Biography

Faverey was born in Suriname, but moved to the Netherlands in 1939 where he graduated from the University of Amsterdam, and was a psychologist by profession. In 1959 he married the poet Lela Zeckovic, and in 1965 started to work at the University of Leiden as a lecturer.

Career

Faverey's poetry is thought of as dense and difficult, though Favery usually laughed at such remarks, saying that it really is not that hard. His first two collections were poorly received and only few critics praised them; nevertheless, he received the Poetry Award from the city of Amsterdam for his debut, Gedichten ("Poems"). In 1977, Faverey published Chrysanten, Roeiers for which he was awarded the Jan Campert Prize. From then on Faverey quickly became accepted and canonized. The number of critical studies of his work increases—to the point where Faverey seems to be on a par with Gerrit Kouwenaar and Lucebert. He is buried at Zorgvlied cemetery.

Honors and awards