The first public analysis of the diary of Anne Frank was written by Jan Romein for the newspaper Het Parool in 1946. This contribution to historical awareness emerged from the personal connection his wife, Annie Romein-Verschoor, maintained with the diary's history, eventually securing the document's publication the following year after earlier attempts to find a publisher had failed.
Academic Foundations and Marxism
Born in 1893 in Rotterdam, Jan Romein attended the Gymnasium Erasmianum before enrolling at Leiden University. His intellectual development was shaped by the First World War and the Russian Revolution, leading him toward Marxist political thought. He maintained a close association with the Communist Party of Holland, serving as an editor for its publication, De Tribune. By 1924, he achieved his doctoral degree with high distinction at Leiden, completing a dissertation on Dostoevsky’s reception among Western critics. He officially left the Communist Party in 1927, though his interest in Marxist theory and the political trajectory of Asia and the Soviet Union persisted throughout his career.
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Romein’s career involved extensive collaboration with his wife, Annie Romein-Verschoor. Together, they produced foundational works such as a history of The Low Countries in 1934 and a four-volume collection of short biographies of prominent Dutch figures published between 1938 and 1940. His individual research included a study on medieval Dutch historiography and the editing of a nine-volume universal history series. In 1937, he authored the essay The dialectics of progress, introducing the concept of the Law of the handicap of a head start, which examined the dynamics of innovation and historical development.
War, Tenure, and Late Scholarship
Appointed professor of history at the University of Amsterdam in 1939, Romein navigated the disruption of the German occupation, including three months of imprisonment in the Amersfoort police detention camp. After the war, he established the theory of history as an academic subject. His later years were marked by both international acclaim and political friction; in 1949, he was denied entry to the United States for a conference. He spent the 1951–1952 academic year as a guest professor in Indonesia. His final major project, a comprehensive analysis of European history between 1889 and 1914 titled The Watershed of Two Eras, was completed before his death in 1962 and published posthumously in 1967.
Fast facts
- Born: 1893, Rotterdam
- Died: 1962, Amsterdam
- Citizenship: Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Educated at: Gymnasium Erasmianum and Leiden University
- Career fields: History, journalism, and university teaching
- Recognition: Righteous Among the Nations, 2011
Questions readers ask
What was Romein’s role in the publication of Anne Frank’s diary?
After his wife failed to secure a publisher, Romein wrote the first newspaper article about the diary for Het Parool, which generated the interest necessary for its eventual publication.
What is the Law of the handicap of a head start?
This concept, introduced by Romein in his 1937 essay The dialectics of progress, describes a historical phenomenon regarding the challenges faced by pioneers compared to later adopters.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 2011
- Worked as journalist, historian and university teacher
- Educated at Leiden University and Gymnasium Erasmianum
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