Havank facts for kids
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Havank was the pen name of Hendrikus Frederikus (Hans) van der Kallen. He was born on February 19, 1904, and passed away on June 22, 1964. Havank was a Dutch writer, journalist, and translator. He wrote more than 30 exciting crime novels. Many people see him as one of the most important writers who helped create the Dutch detective story style.
Havank's Life and Books
Hendrikus van der Kallen was born in a city called Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. He became famous under his pen name, Havank. A pen name is like a special nickname a writer uses instead of their real name. He wrote over 30 crime novels and short stories. His main characters were two French police officers, Bruno Silvère and Charles C.M. Carlier. Charles Carlier was often known as De Schaduw, which means "the Shadow."
During World War II, Havank worked as an editor for a Dutch newspaper called Vrij Nederland. This newspaper was published in London at the time. Sometimes, he also worked as a war reporter, sharing news from the war. After the war, he was asked to help write the life story of Lieutenant-Colonel Oreste Pinto. Pinto was a famous person known for catching spies. These stories were later published in a newspaper called the News Chronicle.
Havank also translated about 45 other books into Dutch. Most of these were crime novels by other popular writers. Some of these writers included Leslie Charteris and Raymond Chandler. From the mid-1950s, his books were printed as paperbacks. The covers were designed by a well-known illustrator named Dick Bruna. It is thought that Havank sold more than 6 million copies of his books during his lifetime. His books remained very popular until the early 1980s. Even today, you can still find his books through special "print-on-demand" services. Only two of his books have been translated into another language, which was German. After Havank passed away, a journalist named Pieter Terpstra finished one of his unfinished novels. Terpstra then continued to write new Havank stories under the name Havank-Terpstra.
Havank spent most of his life living outside the Netherlands. He lived in the south of France, on an island called Majorca in Spain, and in England. He sadly passed away from a heart attack back in Leeuwarden. This happened very close to where he was born. There is a special system in the Netherlands for recognizing fingerprints. It is called the HAVANK system. This system helps identify fingerprints using something called a HAVANK number.
