Louis Davids

[2] Louis started performing at the age of five singing songs at the Groningen funfair, standing on a pillar dressed in a suit and top hat.

Due to the mounting tensions, father Davids decided that it was better if his song no longer worked with him, after which Louis formed a duo with his sister Rika.

In Carré, Duo Davids subsequently managed to set up a successful revue program under the direction of theater director Frits van Haarlem.

He was invited by Frits van Haarlem, who wanted to realize a grand revue and had decided to gain inspiration for the project in London.

The result of the expedition was the first major Dutch revue, Koning 'Kziezoowat in Amsterdam, which Davids wrote together with Van Haarlem, and in which Rika and himself played the leads.

After this, Louis and Rika put an end to their collaboration with Van Haarlem and switched to the more prestigious revue of Henri ter Hall.

During a tour of England, Louis became acquainted with English officer's daughter and artist Margareth Whitefoot, better known as Margie Morris; a talented musician, trained at the conservatory.

[3] There Davids felt appalled at the suppression of the indigenous population, which prompted him to write the song Rassenhaat (Race hate).

In it he was extremely critical of the Dutch colonizers, whom he described as 'The men who mock and abuse, who under the guise of civilization, oppress a nation of millions'.

Davids and Morris wrote a number of famous songs together; not only for the own repertoire but also for musicals by Herman Bouber, such as Bleeke Bet (1917), Oranje Hein (1918) and De Jantjes (1920).

Of great significance was the fact that Davids gave many gifted Dutch and foreign artists a chance to perform in his shows.

The 78 rpm painted steel record, with a portrait of Davids and the quote "I hope that when I'm gone, my songs will always be remembered", was designed by Rotterdam-based artist Mathieu Ficheroux.

Louis Davids and Margie Morris in "He, She and the Piano", 1920
Louis Davids as 'the little man', 1929
Louis Davids Monument in Rotterdam