Alexander Johan Berman

Ds. Alexander Johan Berman
The Watergang church, where Berman served
Born	(1828-09-18)September 18, 1828 Zierikzee, Netherlands
Died	February 14, 1886(1886-02-14) (aged 57) Amsterdam, Netherlands
Years active	1854–1882
Spouse	Gerarda Blom (1835–1881)
Children	Willemina, Simon, Joost, Johan Alexander
Parent(s)	Joost Berman (1793–1855) Neeltje Sevenhuysen (1797–1871)
Relatives	Bart Berman, Helen Berman, Thijs Berman
Religion	Protestant Christianity
Church	Dutch Reformed Church
Congregations served	Nijmegen (1854–1856) Watergang (16 November 1856–31 December 1882)

Ds. Alexander Johan Berman (17 September 1828 in Zierikzee–14 February 1886 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch Reformed minister of Watergang, an author and, in his early retirement, an archivist. As an author, he wrote mostly literary criticism, and, in his younger years, poetry. He published an anthology with works by authors of his era.

Life

A. J. Berman studied at Leiden University, the alma mater of his father, judge and writer Joost Berman. Upon graduation Alexander Johan became an 1854 assistant minister in Nijmegen.

In 1856 Berman was appointed minister at the Dutch Reformed Church of Watergang. Sunday, 16 November was the official start of his work. On 26 November 1857 Berman married in Alkmaar with Gerarda Blom. They had 4 children. Since Watergang was a small community and Berman, who suffered from a lung condition, did not progress to a larger community, the family struggled financially. A friend from university, the author and literary critic Conrad Busken Huet, initiated an anthology through which money was collected for the family. The anthology Landjuweel, set up a series of which only one volume was published, was edited by Berman. The minister's wife died in 1881, aged 45.

Due to his health condition, Berman retired in 1883, just 2 years after his silver jubilee in Watergang. Next, he worked at the city archives of Amsterdam and died in that city in 1886. Two of his children, Simon and Johan Alexander, enjoyed successful careers as a mayor and notary respectively, after training on the job.

Bibliography

Books

• 1854: Asters. Dichtbundeltje, bijeenverzameld door eenige HH. Studenten te Leyden, Utrecht en Deventer, with J.E. Banck Jr., Didymus, J.P.N. Land, and A.J.C. Kremer. Leiden: Jacobus Hazenberg Corns Zoon. (coauthor)
• 1878: Landjuweel: proza en poëzie", Volume 1. Amsterdam: G.L. Funke. (editor)
• 1879: Isabella von Drücker: Een verwaarloosd kleinood. From German. Utrecht: Gebroeders van der Post. (translator)

Articles

• 1870 – "Eene onderwijzing van den Zoon des menschen aangaande den Rustdag" in De Christelijke Huisvriend 11.
• 1870 – "Weemoed", ibid.

External links

• Het Leeskabinet 1875, contains many book reviews by Berman
• Asters, the poetry book that Berman coauthored
• Landjueweel, the book that Berman edited