2.4 Catherina Elisabeth Kalshoven
25
and had five children besides Jacqueline. After he was widowed he married
Henriëtte Frieseman, but he had died by the time when Kapteyn got to know
the family. Elise was named after Jacobus Kalshoven’s first wife. It sounds a
little strange to our modern ears—or maybe even inappropriate—that a father
names his first child with his second wife after his first wife. Maybe to make
up for this Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn is named after her grandmother,
Elise’s actual mother.
Kapteyn was very much attracted by the atmosphere in the Kalshoven home,
which was completely different from the environment in which he had grown
up. In the words of Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn [1]:
One could say that were antipodes. The two young daughters of the house did
not have much household duties; they were not studying or working, they were
cheerful and sociable, they enjoyed life there in a simple and unsophisticated
way.
Elise loved to play the piano accompanying her sister Marie Gabriëlle’s (1857–
1940) singing.
Because the girls had never attended a school and had gained the little knowledge
they had from a governess, they had retained a unique originality, which made
for a special charm that immediately caught everyone’s eye.
But although they went along well, the friendship between Jacobus and Elise
did not yet develop into a courtship or an engagement.
25
and had five children besides Jacqueline. After he was widowed he married
Henriëtte Frieseman, but he had died by the time when Kapteyn got to know
the family. Elise was named after Jacobus Kalshoven’s first wife. It sounds a
little strange to our modern ears—or maybe even inappropriate—that a father
names his first child with his second wife after his first wife. Maybe to make
up for this Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn is named after her grandmother,
Elise’s actual mother.
Kapteyn was very much attracted by the atmosphere in the Kalshoven home,
which was completely different from the environment in which he had grown
up. In the words of Henriette Hertzsprung–Kapteyn [1]:
One could say that were antipodes. The two young daughters of the house did
not have much household duties; they were not studying or working, they were
cheerful and sociable, they enjoyed life there in a simple and unsophisticated
way.
Elise loved to play the piano accompanying her sister Marie Gabriëlle’s (1857–
1940) singing.
Because the girls had never attended a school and had gained the little knowledge
they had from a governess, they had retained a unique originality, which made
for a special charm that immediately caught everyone’s eye.
But although they went along well, the friendship between Jacobus and Elise
did not yet develop into a courtship or an engagement.