E. du Perron

The bloodline can be traced back to Jean Roch du Perron (born in Bulhon, Auvergne, France in 1756 – died in Batavia, Dutch East Indies in 1808).

In an effort to overcome a neurasthenic condition, he took boxing and fencing lessons, and combined his image as a man of action with his writing talent by joining a Batavia-based newspaper.

Fleeing the company of his parents, Du Perron sought refuge in Montmartre, where he stayed for most of 1922 and mingled with the literary and artistic crowds - among them French author Pascal Pia, whom he befriended.

Influenced by Pia and his bohemian friends, Du Perron wrote a small volume of satires in French, published under the title Manuscrit trouvé dans une poche.

[3] In August 1939, at the end of a stay of nearly three years in his country of origin, du Perron wrote to Sjahrir (now a political exile): '[..] In any case when in Holland I pretty much have always remained the awkward stranger.

[4] Du Perron's masterpiece, Country of Origin (1935), is a combination of reflections on a childhood in the Indies and contemporary reporting on Western Europe in the period between the two world wars.

The novel is heavily - though not entirely - autobiographical, and Du Perron's real-life friends are easily recognisable: under the name Héverlé, André Malraux is presented in his early period of left-wing activism, while the characters of Viala and Guraev are shadows of Pascal Pia and Alexandre Alexeieff, respectively.

Characteristics such as the focus on the individual as opposed to the social, a profound introversion and self-conscious reflexiveness, and the integration of various narrative levels and numerous incongruous compositional elements (letters, dialogues, and diary fragments) make Country of Origin a prime example of Dutch modernist prose.

Apart from his own poetry and prose, Du Perron published several translations from French (Valery Larbaud, André Malraux) and one from English (Walter Savage Landor).

The society aims to accumulate and deepen the knowledge regarding E. du Perron, both the person and his work, and contribute to the continued appreciation of his literary, artistic and social significance.