Titia Brongersma facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Titia Brongersma
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| Born | 1650 Dokkum, Friesland |
| Died | 1700 Groningen |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Notable works | "Ode on the hunebed" |
Titia Brongersma (born in Dokkum, Friesland, in 1650 – died in Groningen in 1700) was a Frisian poet from the late 1600s. She is mostly known for her book of poems, De bron-swaan, which was published in 1686. Titia also became famous for digging up an ancient stone tomb, called a dolmen (or hunebed in Dutch), in Borger, Netherlands in 1685.
Contents
Who Was Titia Brongersma?
Titia Brongersma was born in Dokkum, a town in Friesland, which is a province in the Netherlands. She lived during the 17th century. She became known as a poet, which means someone who writes poems.
Her most famous work is a book called De bron-swaan, which translates to "The Swan of the Well." This book was published in 1686 and contains many of her poems. It is one of the main reasons we remember her today.
Discovering Ancient Tombs
Titia Brongersma became very well-known for something exciting she did in 1685. She led an excavation (which means carefully digging up a site) of a large stone structure called a dolmen. In the Netherlands, these are known as hunebedden.
What is a Hunebed?
A hunebed is a very old stone monument. People in ancient times built them. For a long time, many thought these were just piles of rocks made by giants. But Titia Brongersma helped to show they were much more.
The Borger Excavation
Titia heard about the hunebed in Borger, Netherlands when she visited Jan Laurens Lenting(h). He was the local schout, which was like a mayor or sheriff. This visit happened around May 1685.
In July of that same year, Titia arranged for one of the hunebedden to be dug up. Everyone was surprised by what they found. The excavation showed that the hunebed was not just a random pile of stones. It was actually an ancient grave site! This was a very important discovery.
Titia was so inspired by this find that she wrote a poem about it. The poem was called "Ode on the hunebed."
Her Published Works
Titia Brongersma's main published work is her collection of poems.
- De bron-swaan of mengeldigten van Titia Brongersma, 1686. This is her most famous book.
- Eric Miller later translated The Swan of the Well by Titia Brongersma in 2020. This new book includes both the original Dutch and the English translation.
- She also wrote Hemelsche orgeltoonen, though the exact publication date is not known.
