Arie de Jong

Life & Legacy

Arie de Jong (Dutch: [ˈaːri də ˈjɔŋ]; October 18, 1865, Jakarta, Dutch East Indies – October 12, 1958, Putten, Netherlands) was a Dutch enthusiast and reformer of the constructed language Volapük by Johann Martin Schleyer, with whose help the Volapük movement gained new strength in the Netherlands. He not only revised Volapük, but also (together with other Volapükist contemporaries) began Volapükaklub Valemik Nedänik (Dutch Universal Volapük Club) and founded Diläd valemik Feda Volapükaklubas. He also founded and edited Volapükagased pro Nedänapükans, an independent newspaper in Volapük, which ran for thirty-one years (1932–1963). He wrote Gramat Volapüka, a grammar of the language completely in Volapük, and a German-Volapük dictionary, Wörterbuch der Weltsprache (World Language Dictionary). He translated the New Testament into Volapük from Greek, as well as many other pieces of literature. Arie de Jong is considered the most important Volapükist of a new age of Volapük history.