Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma (West Frisian form: Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma, pron. [ˈʧɔlɪŋ ˈhɪdəs ˈhɔlbǝtsma] (the r is silent); Dutch form: Tjalling Hiddes Halbertsma, pron. [ˈcalɪŋ ˈɦɪdəs ˈɦalbǝrtsma]) (Grou, 21 January 1792 – there, 12 December 1852), was a Dutch Frisian writer, poet and merchant, and the least well-known of the three Brothers Halbertsma. During his life he won a certain amount of fame in and around Grou, for the poems and short stories he wrote, and also because of his success as a businessman. After his death some of his literary works were collected with those of his brothers Justus and Eeltsje to be published in 1871 as the famous Rimen en Teltsjes. It was only from 1918 onwards that more of Tsjalling Halbertsma's works were added to this collection.
Life
Youth and background
Tsjalling Hiddes Halbertsma was born on 21 January 1792 in his parents' house on Kowemerk ("Cow Market") street in the village of Grou, in the central part of the Dutch province of Friesland. He was the son of the baker and small-time merchant Hidde Joasts Halbertsma (1756–1809) and his wife Ruerdtsje (or Riurtk) Tsjallings Binnerts (1767–1809). He had one elder brother, Justus (1789–1869), and two younger brothers, Binnert (1795–1847), and Eeltsje (1797–1858). Two children who were born later died in early childhood, the little boy in 1803, and the little girl in 1805. The brothers were very close, possibly as a consequence of the fact that both their parents died at a relatively young age in 1809, when Tsjalling was only seventeen years of age. Justus, Tsjalling and Eeltsje, who, as authors, became known as the Brothers Halbertsma later in life, were much like their father, while Binnert more resembled their mother.
This mother, Ruerdtsje Binnerts, was a scion of a prominent family in Grou. Her people were Mennonites, and although her husband had been raised a Calvinist, he converted after marrying her. From the letters of Tsjalling's brother Justus, Ruerdtsje emerges as a smart businesswoman, a loving mother, and a deeply religious person. About Hidde Halbertsma, the father, much less is known. It is thought that he might have been a mariner before his marriage. He is described as a gentle soul, who was, however, apt to take offence, and could be quite sharp-tongued in such cases.
Nature
Tsjalling Halbertsma was, according to his brother Justus, an imitator of great skill, a trait he had inherited from their father. Justus also wrote about him, "There was no greater lover of silliness and jokes in all of Friesland than my brother Tsjalling; but, mark this, always in the wasted hours. When it was time for business, all of the joking stopped, and then activity, policy, hard work and calculations were the order of the day from early in the morning to late in the evening." One of his biographers (J. P. Wiersma) described Tsjalling Halbertsma as "a talented, conspicuous person, full of drollery, not without vanity, but original in thought and word, distinctive in all his doings, a trendsetter." A different biographer (G. A. Wumkes) wrote about him: "Here the pen is wielded by a man of high character."
Trade
When Hidde Halbertsma died, in January 1809, and was followed in death by his wife Ruerdtsje Binnerts in December of that same year, the Brothers Halbertsma became orphans at a young age. Justus, the eldest brother, was in Amsterdam at that time, studying to become a minister, while Eeltsje, the youngest, was boarding in the provincial capital of Leeuwarden, where he attended the Latin school. In consequence, it fell to Tsjalling to keep their father's bakery running with the help of their father's baker's mates, until the third brother, Binnert, was old enough to take over the business.