LOGGEM, MANUEL VAN

LOGGEM, MANUEL VAN (1916–1998), Dutch author and critic. Van Loggem worked as a theater critic for several papers,   as a psychotherapist, and as a graphologist. He is mainly known as the author of numerous dramas and television plays in which the characters are drawn with great psychological skill. His plays include the prizewinning De Chinese fluitspeler ("The Chinese Flutist," 1947) and Jeugdproces ("Youth Trial," 1962), which was translated into many languages. His plays for television include Een zon op Hiroshima ("A Sun over Hiroshima," 1962). Van Loggem also wrote novels and short stories, some of them on Jewish themes. Van Loggem's novel Mozes, de wording van een volk (1947) describes the genesis of the Jewish people. His short story "Deze plek komt me bekend voor," from the collection Het tijdperk der zerken ("The Age of Memorials," 1968) introduces the figure of the wandering jew after Israel's capture of the Western Wall in Jerusalem in June 1967. His theoretical and critical prose includes Oorsprong en noodzaak ("Origin and Necessity," 1951), and Inleiding tot het toneel ("Introduction to the Theater," 1951). Van Loggem also wrote thrillers and science fiction. (Gerda Alster-Thau / Hilde Pach (2nd ed.)