Israël Querido

Biography

Israël Querido, (1872—1932) was a Dutch novelist of the naturalist movement.

After being employed as a diamond worker, Querido lived in close contact with the working classes. By minutely observing them, he was able to reproduce exactly their way of life and their speech style in, for example, De Jordaan (1914), a long epic in four parts. Socialist elements are evident in his treatment of the human condition in such novels as Menschenwee (1903; Toil of Men), a detailed description of the miseries he witnessed among the people of Beverwijk, where he was then living. Querido also wrote historical novels, including De oude wereld (1919; “The Old World”), in which his rather heavy style is especially obvious.