Adriaan Loosjes

Adriaan Loosjes (1761, in Texel – 1818, in Haarlem), was a 19th-century botanist,[1] poet, novelist and publisher born in Den Hoorn, North Holland, Netherlands.

He came from a family of Mennonite ministers and was an active member of Doopsgezinde Church, Haarlem, where he started his first literary society in 1777, Honos alit artes.

[2] In 1779 he started another one called Vlijt moeder der Wetenschappen that began to annually announce contests with a prize similar to the Teylers Eerste Genootschap that was founded the year before.

[2] In 1782 these two societies were merged and also began to produce plays, which Loosjes wrote, acted in, and published himself, becoming a Haarlem bookseller.

[2] When the House of Orange briefly enjoyed a contrarevolution, Leerzaam vermaak was banned, and Loosjes decided to avoid politics and relinquished his official roles in the group, spending his time on scientific and writing pursuits.