about Fiep 1940

	1916, 17 DECEMBER Sophia Maria Westendorp, generally known as Fiep, is born in Zaltbommel. >>>>
	1921-1932 School years, Zaltbommel > read on
	1932-1938 Royal College of Arts and Crafts in ’s Hertogenbosch. > read on
	1937 First illustration commission: the Zaltbommel tourist information guide. > read on
	1938-1940 Rotterdam Art Academy. > read on
	1939 Commissioned to do wallpainting The Cormorant Colony for the Town Hall of Lekkerkerk. > read on
	1940-1943 Fiep lives in the home of Jan Campert and Clara Eggink in The Hague. > read on
	1943-1945 Evacuated from Zaltbommel to Haaften, then to Opijnen and Tuyl. Forges passports and makes ground plans of the banks of the Waal for the Allied Forces. > read on
	1945 Moves to Amsterdam for good. > read on
	1945-1948 Works as an illustrator at Vrij Nederland magazine and the world service of the Dutch broadcaster Radio Nederland. Also illustrates for various publishers such as De Bezige Bij, Jacob van Campen and Uitgeverij Contact. > read on
	> read on: 1946-1957

When Rotterdam was bombed in May 1940, the Art Academy was completely destroyed. All of the students’ art works were also burned. Fiep was particularly distressed by the fact that all the etchings and etching plates she had worked on so hard and had been so fond of had been lost. 
From 1941 till the end of 1943 Fiep lived at the home of Clara Eggink and Jan Campert in  The Hague, where she often babysat Clara's son, Wim. Wim’s father was Jacques Bloem. Though Clara and Jacques were divorced, Jacques was a regular visitor and also became a good friend of Fiep’s.

In 1941 Clara Eggink wrote the poem The Woman and the Cormorant which Fiep illustrated.