Mrs. J.M.C. Kloppenburg-Versteegh (1862-1948)

"Look it up in Kloppenburg!"

"Look it up in Kloppenburg!" is what people used to say in the Dutch East Indies. Whoever suffered from a major or minor ailment knew that Indische planten en haar geneeskracht (Indigenous plants and their healing powers) (1907), written by Mrs. Kloppenburg-Versteegh, would offer a remedy. This book right away became a best-seller. The name of Mrs. Kloppenburg would hold a mythical connotation for decades to come.

In 1913 Mrs. Kloppenburg published Het leven van de Europeesche vrouw in Indië (Life of the European woman in the Indies), offering women a number of autobiographically tinged rules for everyday life. In Eene nabetrachting (In retrospect) (1940), Mrs. Kloppenburg justified the usefulness and the importance of her first writing, widely known as the book on herbs.

Notwithstanding all her achievements, little or nothing is known about this intruiging woman. This situation must be put to rights.

In May 2000, a book cassette in three volumes, titled De Indische planten van mevrouw J.M.C. Kloppenburg-Versteegh (The indigenous plants of Mrs. J.M.C. Kloppenburg-Versteegh, 1864-1948) is published by Bonneville. Here a tip of the veil will be lifted. Who was his fascinating woman?

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