Wim de Wagt, Biography

Website www.wimdewagt.nl

Wim de Wagt (born 1962) studied Art History at Free University in Amsterdam from 1983-1989, studying Sociology of the Built Environment as a subsidiary subject at the University of Amsterdam in 1987-1988. From then on he worked as an independent art historian and art journalist, writing books, articles and interviews for a variety of publishing houses, principals, newspapers and other periodicals. In his books he focuses on Dutch architecture of the early 20^th century, such as the work of the renowned socialist modernist architect J.B. van Loghem, about whom he published a wide acclaimed monograph in 1995. He also worked as a free lance researcher and adviser in the field of architectural history, architecture, visual arts and monuments, especially for the cities of Amsterdam and Haarlem. Besides that, he wrote several books on Jewish history, concentrating on the Jewish community of the old Dutch town of Haarlem, and the way in which the holocaust had its impact in the lives of remarkable local individuals such as the visionary stockbroker Barend Chapon and the social lawyer Herbert Drilsma. At Technical University Eindhoven Wim de Wagt finished in 2008 his extensive doctoral research of the life and work of the versatile Dutch modernist architect Piet Elling. This research was published as his PhD-thesis by Thoth publishing house, Bussum, in that same year.