Hendrik Jan Schoo

Hendrik Jan Schoo (born November 10, 1945 - died September 9, 2007) also known as HJ Schoo was a Dutch author, journalist, essayist and magazine editor. He served as the editor-in-chief of Elsevier magazine and was the deputy editor of de Volkskrant newspaper for which he wrote columns.^[1]

Biography

Schoo was born in Amsterdam. His father was a sales representative and his mother a nurse. He was a brother of politician and government minister Eegje Schoo. He initially trained as a teacher before going to study social sciences at the University of Chicago. He later worked at an African-American primary school before returning to the Netherlands.

Career

Schoo began his career as an editor and writer for Montessori Communications, a publication of the Dutch Montessori Association.^[2] He then worked for a psychology publication before joining Elsevier in 1991 as a columnist, rising up to become deputy editor and then chief editor from 1993 to 1999.^[3] Politically, Schoo took on a conservative slant and was critical of multiculturalism in his opinion columns.^[4] One of Schoo's most notable acts as editor was appointing sociology professor Pim Fortuyn as a columnist in 1993.^[5] Both Schoo and Fortuyn would influence each other's beliefs, and the column helped Fortuyn to gain more public exposure in the Netherlands before he embarked on a political career.^[6] At the end of 1999, Schoo resigned from Elsevier to become deputy editor-in-chief of de Volkskrant.^[7]

Personal life

Schoo was married twice, first to Dutch writer Xandra Schutte by whom he had a son.^[8] He died following complications after heart surgery in 2007.^[9]

References