Ernst van Altena
Dutch poet, writer and translator (1933-1999)

Ernst Rudolf van Altena (11 December 1933 – 15 June 1999) was a Dutch poet, writer and translator. He was best known for his translations of chansons by Jacques Brel.
“Ernst van Altena” enters the record as dutch poet, writer and translator (1933-1999). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ernst, Altena and Dutch can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Ernst van Altena” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ernst, Altena and Dutch provides the most credible route into that argument.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2378573. VIAF identifies the subject as 72740707. The Library of Congress control number is n82094449. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1933 and 1999.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Ernst van Altena”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Ernst van Altena primary sources, Ernst van Altena archive and Ernst research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Ernst van Altena”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Ernst van Altena” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.