A. C. Baantjer

Albert Cornelis "Appie" Baantjer (16 September 1923 – 29 August 2010) was a Dutch author of detective fiction and police officer.

A. C. Baantjer
A. C. Baantjer and Mayor of Amsterdam Wim Polak in 1979
Born
Albert Cornelis Baantjer

(1923-09-16)16 September 1923
Urk, Netherlands
Died29 August 2010(2010-08-29) (aged 86)
Alkmaar, Netherlands
NationalityDutch
OccupationAuthor
Police officer
Years active1959–2010
Notable work
Baantjer
Spouse(s)Marretje van der Vaart (1952–2007; her death)
Website(in Dutch) baantjer.org

He is mainly known for his large series of detective novels revolving around police inspector De Cock (also translated as DeKok) and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. The name of the protagonist simply means "cook" in Dutch, but has an unusual spelling which is at the heart of a running gag that involves De Cock spelling out his name every time he introduces himself to someone.

The novels have spin-offs in the form of a motion picture[1] and a long-running TV-series entitled Baantjer.[2] Both are named after the author, rather than the main character(s). This led to screenwriter Berend Boudewijn's bitter statement in a Dutch TV guide (VPRO Gids, 11 November 2005) that "Baantjer is the only TV series in the world that is named after a writer, even though it is not written by him." (This is not entirely true: The Belgian TV series Aspe is also named after its writer, Pieter Aspe, who wrote the first season but not the second.)

Baantjer's novels have made their way into the English language through the publishing house Speck Press. De Cock's name has been translated as DeKok. There are approximately 23 of the 60 published Baantjer titles available in English. His books have also been translated into Spanish, French, Russian and Korean and Estonian.[3]

References
  1. ""Baantjer" De Cock en de wraak zonder einde (TV Episode 1999)". IMDb. 24 February 2000.
  2. ann_dutchgirl (17 January 2007). "Baantjer (TV Series 1995–2006)". IMDb.
  3. http://ester.utlib.ee/search*est/a?SEARCH=baantjer&searchscope=1&SUBMIT=OTSI
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