Biografie op de bühne: met Erik Schaap over André Engwirda en Martine van Poeteren over Afra Geiger

On October 13, Erik Schaap and Martine van Poeteren will be guests during the second episode of the third season of Biografie op de bühne, the monthly talk show of BiografiePortal. Together with Evert de Vos and Zoran Bogdanovic, Erik Schaap examines the question of whether André Engwirda was right or wrong in the wars in which he took sides. Engwirda fought against Franco during the Spanish Civil War, but worked for the Gestapo during the Occupation. He was a man of extremes, and did not shy away from taking on the task of killing Tito. What made him move from left to right? His three biographers – specialized in the Second World War, the Spanish Civil War and the former Yugoslavia respectively – not only examined his actions against the background of the twists and turns that history took, but also studied his character.

Eric Palmen interviews him.

'Writing a biography about someone who no one knows and about whom there are almost no sources. “What are you getting yourself into?” I say to myself. But I have come this far and it is becoming increasingly clear to me that I have information that is very special. I can't and I don't want to go back.' Martine van Poeteren wrote that six years ago on Biography Portal. And the life of Afra Geiger, a student of Philosophy with Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, still keeps her busy. Geiger gave up her studies after Edmund Husserl did not want to admit her to his classes. She wanted to get her PhD from him. Heidegger and Jaspers tried to persuade Husserl before her, without success. When she started her research, Van Poeteren was the only one who seemed interested in the life of Afra Geiger. But in the meantime, there are also other researchers who are interested. What does that mean for a biographer who is steadily searching and working towards a book?

Jaap Cohen, biographer of Theo van Gogh, is the interviewer.