In 1918, in Utrecht, at G.J.A. RUYS, appeared a book called "Mietje van der Dussen", written by L.E. The author is Lite Engelberts, 1880-1929. Born in Gelderland, she had written several historical novels taking place in the Netherlands during the 18th century, novels which had some success at the time. She relied on historical facts and family archives, to which she had access through her relationships. Her works were considered to be well documented. We discovered this book by chance on the Internet. You will find the first part of the original text, in Dutch, (Mietje2) below. The book is of course out of print, but is still to be find in antiques shops. The copy in our possession was the property of Anna Maria Catharina van der Dussen (!) "Geboren : 29 maart 1883" (see Mietje1). She was thus the exact contemporary of Lite Engelberts. This Anna Maria Catharina is not cited in the VDD genealogy, either because she did not belong to this family, or because her parentage was lost. If by chance her descendants read these lines, please contact us. Mietje appears in branch E of the genealogy, in position XIV 5. Her full given name is Maria Louisa Adriana van der Dussen. She was the daughter of Jan Lucas van der Dussen, count of the dykes, who disappeared in the fire that burnt down the theater in Amsterdam. She was grand-grand-daughter of Bruno, the plenipotentiary of the United Provinces negotiating the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 with France. She had lost her parents when she was young, and the book tells her life as a big sister first, taking care of the rest of the family, then settling with them in the countryside in Gelderland, relating social and familial events. A bittersweet, bucolic family chronicle, going through the episodes of war and French occupation at the end of the 18th century.
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