Jan Hein Donner
Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. He took part in the Internacional Chess Tournament (1956), Donner came third, behind Larsen and Darga. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, awarded him the GM title in 1959. He played for the Netherlands in the Chess Olympiads 11 times (1950–1954, 1958–1962, 1968, 1972–1978). He was the uncle of the former Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Piet Hein Donner.
| Hein Donner | |
|---|---|
Donner in 1978 | |
| Full name | Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Born | July 6, 1927 The Hague, Netherlands |
| Died | November 27, 1988 (aged 61) |
| Title | Grandmaster (1959) |
| Peak rating | 2500 (July 1971) |
On August 24, 1983, Donner suffered a stroke, which he wrote happened "just in time, because when you are 56 you do not play chess as well as you did when you were 26". After surviving the stroke, he went to live in Vreugdehof, which he described as "a kind of nursing-home". He was unable to walk, but had learned to type with one finger, and wrote for NRC Handelsblad and Schaaknieuws.
The character Onno Quist in the novel (and film) The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch is based on Donner.