Mineke Schipper is a Dutch writer of fiction and non-fiction. She is best known for her work on comparative literature, mythology, and intercultural studies.
Mineke Schipper was born Wilhelmina Janneke Josepha de Leeuw on 6 December 1938 in Polsbroek, Netherlands. She studied French and Philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam and later pursued Literary Theory and Comparative Literature at the University of Utrecht, graduating cum laude.
Schipper began her academic career teaching French and African Literature at the Université Libre du Congo between 1964 and 1968 and again from 1970 to 1972. In 1973, she earned her PhD in Amsterdam with the first Dutch dissertation on African literature. Over time, her research became more focused on comparing literature from different cultures. In 1988, she was appointed the first Professor of Intercultural Literary Studies in the Netherlands, first at the Free University of Amsterdam and later at Leiden University.
Beyond her academic work, Schipper has been active in literary freedom efforts. As International Secretary of the Netherlands PEN Centre and a member of the PEN Emergency Fund, she collaborated with International PEN’s Writers-in-Prison Committee to support writers and journalists worldwide.
In 2008, she retired from her professorship at Leiden University and received the Royal Order of Knighthood (Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau) for her contributions to intercultural understanding. In addition to her research studies at Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS), she concentrated on writing.
Schipper has written both fiction and non-fiction. Her first novel, Conrads rivier (1994), was inspired by her time in the Congo. She followed it with De zieleneters (1998), a novel blending magic and European settings. Her third novel, Vogel valt Vogel vliegt (2007), explored themes of globalisation and was praised by J. M. Coetzee as "an absorbing story of the growth of adult love, and the letting go of past love, in the shadow of America’s imperial wars."
Her non-fiction has gained international recognition, particularly her work on proverbs, myths, and oral traditions. Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet (2004) examined global proverbs about women and won the Eureka Award in 2005 for making academic research accessible to a broad audience. The book has been translated into multiple languages, including Chinese, Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Portuguese.
In 2024, Schipper published Shrinking Goddess: Power, Myth and the Female Body.
The book explores myths about the female body, from ancient goddesses to modern cultural narratives. She traces how these myths have shaped perceptions of women, writing about figures such as the demon daughter of New Mexico and witches with multiple breasts. The book examines why Mother Earth faded from cultural narratives and how women’s bodies have been represented in art and literature across different societies.
Schipper has lectured worldwide, from Berkeley to Beijing and from Nairobi to Stockholm.
Photo credit: www.minekeschipper.nl
Mineke Schipper was born Wilhelmina Janneke Josepha de Leeuw on 6 December 1938 in Polsbroek, Netherlands. She studied French and Philosophy at the Free University of Amsterdam and later pursued Literary Theory and Comparative Literature at the University of Utrecht, graduating cum laude.
Schipper began her academic career teaching French and African Literature at the Université Libre du Congo between 1964 and 1968 and again from 1970 to 1972. In 1973, she earned her PhD in Amsterdam with the first Dutch dissertation on African literature. Over time, her research became more focused on comparing literature from different cultures. In 1988, she was appointed the first Professor of Intercultural Literary Studies in the Netherlands, first at the Free University of Amsterdam and later at Leiden University.
Beyond her academic work, Schipper has been active in literary freedom efforts. As International Secretary of the Netherlands PEN Centre and a member of the PEN Emergency Fund, she collaborated with International PEN’s Writers-in-Prison Committee to support writers and journalists worldwide.
In 2008, she retired from her professorship at Leiden University and received the Royal Order of Knighthood (Officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau) for her contributions to intercultural understanding. In addition to her research studies at Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS), she concentrated on writing.
Schipper has written both fiction and non-fiction. Her first novel, Conrads rivier (1994), was inspired by her time in the Congo. She followed it with De zieleneters (1998), a novel blending magic and European settings. Her third novel, Vogel valt Vogel vliegt (2007), explored themes of globalisation and was praised by J. M. Coetzee as "an absorbing story of the growth of adult love, and the letting go of past love, in the shadow of America’s imperial wars."
Her non-fiction has gained international recognition, particularly her work on proverbs, myths, and oral traditions. Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet (2004) examined global proverbs about women and won the Eureka Award in 2005 for making academic research accessible to a broad audience. The book has been translated into multiple languages, including Chinese, Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, Korean, and Portuguese.
In 2024, Schipper published Shrinking Goddess: Power, Myth and the Female Body.
The book explores myths about the female body, from ancient goddesses to modern cultural narratives. She traces how these myths have shaped perceptions of women, writing about figures such as the demon daughter of New Mexico and witches with multiple breasts. The book examines why Mother Earth faded from cultural narratives and how women’s bodies have been represented in art and literature across different societies.
Schipper has lectured worldwide, from Berkeley to Beijing and from Nairobi to Stockholm.
Photo credit: www.minekeschipper.nl
years of life: 6 December 1938 – present
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