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Tijs Goldschmidt
NLPVF
Tijs Goldschmidt was born in Amsterdam in 1953.

He is an evolutionary biologist and a writer. His essays seek to present a link between the arts and the sciences, and to situate science within a broader cultural framework. His latest collection of essays, published in 2007, is Kloten van de engel (The Angel’s Balls).

Goldschmidt’s first book, Darwin’s Dreampond, was the result of five years’ study of cichlids (Percidae) in Tanzania’s Lake Victoria. His research, first presented in a Ph.D. thesis, combines scientific findings with personal experiences. Darwin’s Dreampond was shortlisted for the AKO Literature Prize and was awarded the prestigious Science Prize from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research. It was also translated into more than five languages.

In 1993, Goldschmidt decided to give up his academic career to become a fulltime writer. He is also the author of Oversprongen(Crossovers), a collection of essays about the parallels between culture and nature, for which he was awarded the Dutch Jan Hanlo Essay Prize in 2001; and in 2009, Goldschmidt compiled a collection of poems and essays Ademgaten (Breathing Spaces) by the Dutch poet, writer, and biologist Dick Hillenius (1927-1987).


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