ABSTRACT
The eight-year age difference between Johan Huizinga (1872-1945) and N.W. Posthumus (1880-1960) cannot possibly be the real reason why the former became a renowned cultural historian and the latter a pioneer in social and economic history. During Posthumus’ student years between 1898 and 1906 in Amsterdam, Marxism was definitely more in vogue than when Huizinga was studying in Groningen between 1891 and 1895. This may explain why Posthumus chose the course he did. German studies and comparative linguistics as an area of specialization accommodated Huizinga’s preference for language and culture. In 1897 he took his phd on classical theatre in India. P.J. Blok (1855-1929), who until 1894 was a professor of general and national history in Groningen and later on in Leiden, encouraged his interest in history and helped him find his first job: in 1897 Huizinga became a history teacher in Haarlem. Haarlem was also the first “historical” topic on which he published. 1 In 1905 Blok was the one who arranged to have Huizinga appointed professor of general and national history in Groningen. Huizinga had married Mary Vincentia Schorer (1877-1914) in 1902. The couple had five children. The death of this wife and mother was a major blow to the family in 1914. Describing his state of mind as “a deep fog”, he followed Blok’s advice for the third time and in this year rife with both personal and political tragedy applied for a position as professor of general history in Leiden. 2 He remained there, until the Nazis shut down the university the day after Cleveringa’s lecture on 26 November 1940. 3
