Daniël Heinsius

Daniël Heinsius (born January [June ?] 9, 1580, Ghent, Belgium—died February 25, 1655, Leiden, Netherlands) was a Dutch poet, famous in his day as a classical scholar.

At Leiden, Heinsius produced classical editions, verses, and orations from an early age. He annotated many Latin poets and Greek writers from Hesiod to Nonnus, and the popularity of his lectures dazzled his colleagues. By 1614 he was professor of history, librarian, and secretary to the senate, and his advice determined the policy of the publishing firm of Elzevirs. At the Synod of Dort he supported the condemnation of the Remonstrants, who included his close friend, Grotius, and thereby earned the official good will of the victorious Calvinists. Attacked after three decades of success, he failed to parry the criticisms evoked by his New Testament commentary (1639). He published little after 1640. His literary productions, which include the Dutch tragedy Herodes infanticida (1632), reveal him as a skillful craftsman without originality or taste. But he deserves to be remembered for his edition of Aristotle’s Poetics (1611), his De tragoediae constitutione (1611), which decisively influenced the French classical theatre, and his Dutch poetry (1616), which was indebted to the French group La Pléiade.