Joost van den Vondel:
(Cologne, 17 November 1587 – Amsterdam, 5 February 1679). Dutch poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer and poet in the Dutch language.
He was born in Cologne and lived most of his life in Amsterdam. Vondel’s oeuvre includes 33 original and translated tragedies, learning, praise and satire poems, and translations of classical writers.
Amsterdam’s Vondelpark was named after him after the unveiling in 1867 of the Vondel monument. His nicknames are “the Cologne swan” and “the prince of poets”.
He who does not know his happiness lives unhappily in rich possession.
