About Max Velthuijs

Max Velthuijs, illustrator and writer of children's books, was born on May 22, 1923 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Both his father and his mother were teachers. Max showed a great passion for drawing and cartoons at a young age and dreams of making cartoons. His parents disapprove of being an artist and send him to Trade school. Max didn't like it at all and left school to go to work.

During the war, the family was forced to move to Arnhem and Max was finally allowed to study at the Art Academy in Arnhem, but his study ended abruptly in 1944, by the Allied assault on Arnhem.

After the war he married Belleke Dolhain and they had a son Enno, born on February 28th 1948, a boy who had some psychiatric problems later in his life. In 1967, Max and Belleke got divorced, but Max got remarried in 1973 to Charlotte van Zadelhoff, who was much younger than himself. They too had a son, Viktor. Unfortunately, this marriage ended in a divorce as well in 2000. Max and Viktor moved to the center of The Hague, near Max' work shop.

As a tall, sociable man, he was a keen chess player and a fine guitarist, loved jazz and cats.

In 2003 Max was diagnosed with lung-cancer. His physical decay went rapid, but his optimism never decreased. Max died at the respectable age of 81, on January 25th, 2005.

See also my posts:
Max Velthuijs' Work
Max Velthuijs' Economical Impact