Josephus Carel Franciscus (Jef) Last (2 May 1898 in The Hague – 15 February 1972 in Laren) was a Dutch poet, writer, translator and cosmopolitan.
Jef Last was a writer and socially compassionate man. Having a Protestant father and a Catholic mother, he was raised in the Protestant tradition. However, he was already a member of the SDAP and the "AJC" at a very young age. With these principles, he could not practice as an assistant manager of the Enka in Ede, leading to his resignation.
He left the revisionist social democracy to become a member of Henk Sneevliet's Revolutionary Socialist Party. With his revolutionary friend André Gide, he traveled in the summer of 1936 to the Soviet Union. The pair was well received, but saw through the organized tribute and returned to the west disillusioned. Last wrote a book about his friendship with Gide.
From 1950 to 1953, he lived in Indonesia, particularly in Singaraja (Bali), where he worked as a teacher at a secondary school. He was friends with the country’s president Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta.
Family
He was married to Ida ter Haar (1893-1982) from 1923, whom he divorced and later remarried. They had three daughters. Jef was known as a bisexual. He was a co-founder of the homosexual emancipation Shakespeare Club, the forerunner of the COC.
The last years of his life were spent in the Rosa Spier Huis in Laren. After his death, his body was made available to science.
Work
1926 – Bakboordslichten (poetry)
1930 – Branding
1930 – Kameraden! (poetry)
1930 – Marianne
1932 – Liefde in de portieken
1932 – Verleden tijd (poetry)
1933 – Onder de koperen ploert
1933 – Partij remise
1933 – Twee werelden (poetry)
1933 – De vlucht van den opstandeling
1934 – Zuiderzee
1935 – Een huis zonder vensters
1935 – Voor de mast
1936 – Brieven uit Spanje
1936 – De bevrijde Eros. Een ketter in moorenland en andere gedichten (poetry)