The article tells about three ‘fathers of Dutch Slavistics” and two Dutch authors who had studied Russian at university. The Dutchman Nicolaas van Wijk (1880- 1941) learned Russian because of his interest to comparative historical linguistics, especially after his study course at Moscow University in 1903. The Russian German Bruno Becker (1885-1965) was first professor of history at St.Petersburg University; he went to Holland in 1913 in order to read the manuscripts of the Dutch 16th century humanist Dirk Coornhert. The Russian Jew Boris Raptschinsky (1887-1983) arrived in Amsterdam in 1907 after escaping from Russian prison. The diary of Etty Hillesum (1914-1943) saw in 2011 its 28* edition, while the poet Wifred Smit (1933-1972) was really appreciated only about 15 years after his early death.
Michajlova Irina. FROM THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN LANGUAGE STUDIES IN NETHERLANDS