Merken, Lucretia Wilhelmina van (1721–1789)
Merken, Lucretia Wilhelmina van (1721–1789)
Dutch poet and playwright. Name variations: Lucretia van Winter. Born Lucretia Wilhelmina van Merken, Aug 21, 1721, in Amsterdam, Netherlands; died Oct 24, 1789, in Leiden, Netherlands; m. Nicolaas Simon van Winter, 1768.
Considered by contemporaries as one of the most important poets of her age, wrote such epic poems as Het nut der tegenspoeden (The Benefit of Adversities, 1762), David (12 vols., 1768), and Germanicus (16 vols., 1768); wrote plays in French classical style, including Beleg der stad leyden (1774); also wrote 17 metrical psalms; published Toneelpoezij (1774–86) containing own and husband's plays; De ware geluksbedeeling appeared posthumously (1792); works reflect her Remonstrant Protestant sensibility, patriotism and late 18th-century classicism.