- Arnold Aletrino
Arnold Aletrino (1858 - 1916) was a Dutch criminal anthropologist and writer, who published works on
homosexuality in Dutch and French. He was a member of the 'Tachtigers ' (= 1880'ers), a group of young and revolutionary Dutch authors, who despised the pious poetry and prose of the mid-nineteenth century Dutch Victorian writers.Biography
Arnold Aletrino was born
1 April ,1858 inAmsterdam to Salomon Aletrino and Selima Pineda.As a medical student, he befriended
Frederik van Eeden , who was to be a well-known psychiatrist and one of the most famous Tachtigers. In 1892, he married Rachel Mendes da Costa, who committed suicide five years later. Later, he married Jupie van Stockum. Aletrino never had children.Aletrino published between 1889 and 1906 a few novels and collections of stories, all extremely bleak and cheerless in atmosphere. During this time, he worked as a medical doctor for the city of Amsterdam, especially for its firemen.
In his final years, an incurably ill man, he lived with his wife in
Switzerland . Aletrino died16 January ,1916 in Chernex, Switzerland, nearGeneva .Works
Aletrino had been schooled by
Cesare Lombroso , who attempted to explain criminality in light of a degeneratingcentral nervous system . Aletrino broke with Lombroso overhomosexuals in a Dutch article in 1897, in which he claimed that homosexuality could occur in otherwise perfectly normal and healthy individuals. In later works he campaigned against the legal intolerance and prohibition of homosexuality in Europe.In 1901 he defended homosexuals at the Fifth Congress of Criminal Anthropology in
Amsterdam . He was accused of "defending immorality." He continued to fight throughout his life to engender a more tolerant and understanding attitude of homosexuality. In 1912 he participated in founding the Dutch branch of the Scientific Humanitarian Committee, which was first founded inGermany in 1897 bygay rights pioneerMagnus Hirschfeld .ources
*Hekma, Gert. "Aletrino, Arnold". "Who's Who in Gay & Lesbian History. From Antiquity to World War II". Robert Aldrich & Garry Wotherspoon (ed.), Routledge, 2001, p. 15.
*Johansson, Warren. "Aletrino, Arnold". [http://www.williamapercy.com/wiki/images/Aletrino.pdf "Encyclopedia of Homosexuality."] Dynes, Wayne R. (ed.), Garland Publishing, 1990, p. 39.
*Joosse, Kees. "Arnold Aletrino: pessimist met perspectief". Thomas Rap, 1986. Biography. 612 p.
*Lieshout, Maurice van "Stiefkind der Natuur: Het Homobeeld bij Aletrino en Von Römer", "Homojaarboek". 1 (1981), p. 75-106.
*Lieshout, Maurice van "Pendelen tussen wetenschap en moraal. Arnold Aletrino (1858-1916)", "Pijlen van naamloze liefde. Pioniers van de homo-emancipatie". Maurice van Lieshout & Hans Hafkamp (ed.), SUA, 1988, p. 83-88.
* [http://www.jhm.nl/personen.aspx?naam=Aletrino,%20Arnold Joods Historisch Museum, Arnold Aletrino (Dutch)]Persondata
NAME = Aletrino, Arnold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Dutch criminal anthropologist and writer
DATE OF BIRTH =1 April ,1858
PLACE OF BIRTH =Amsterdam ,The Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH =16 January ,1916
PLACE OF DEATH = Chernex,Switzerland
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