Louis Marie-Anne Couperus was a famous and enigmatic Dutch writer. He wrote novels, psychological work and travelogues. He first met his cousin Elisabeth Couperus Baud in Indonesia, and he was to marry her in 1891 and he later wrote about this first meeting:
“We are cousins and have played together. We danced together at children’s balls. We still have our baby pictures. She was dressed in a marquise dress and I was dressed as a page. My garment was made of black velvet and I was very proud of my first travesti.” in De zwaluwen neergestreken
In Dutch, a travesti is the act of dressing as a transvestite, and although Louis probably wrote just about dressing up as young people – there was much speculation later, particularly after his death, about his sexuality. Many recent commentators felt that he was gay.
After Couperus’s death, A foundation to his memory was set up. The Chairman of the foundation was Henri Van Booven, and Elisabeth was the chairman of honour. Shortly after Couperus’s death, Van Booven wrote his biography Leven en werken van Louis Couperus in 1933. They both outlived Louis Couperus by a significant time, with Elisabeth dying aged 93 in 1960 and van Booven in 1964.
This letter, written in ink, was published in “Dienstbaar tot het einde” as letter 174.
