Nicolaas van Wijk

Nicolaas van Wijk (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈnɪkɔˌlaːs vɑɱ ʋɛi̯k]; 4 October 1880 – 25 March 1941) was a Dutch linguist, literary scholar, and philanthropist. He is best known for his contributions to Slavistics, serving as the first chair of the Balto-Slavic languages at Leiden University from 1913 until his death in 1941.

Born to a family of Dutch Reformed preachers, Van Wijk began his academic life studying Dutch literature before becoming involved in comparative and historical linguistics. After receiving his doctorate from the University of Amsterdam, he secured a grant to work at Leipzig University and traveled to Russia to study the language there, where he became enthralled by Russian literature. He was then hired as a curator and deputy librarian at the Royal Library of the Netherlands before being hired as a professor at Leiden University. His publications led to him being selected for the newly-created chair of Balto-Slavic languages, which was controversial as many prominent scholars in Russia disapproved. Following his appointment, he began a trip across Eastern Europe in order to acquire books in his fields for the university's library and establish contacts in academia there.

Beginning shortly after the outbreak of World War I until his death during World War II, Van Wijk was a noted philanthropist. He had allowed several people from Eastern Europe to stay with him in the Netherlands as they escaped war and persecution, including Polish Jews and Russian dissidents of communism. In 1915, he traveled to Poland to oversee the application of aid provided from the Netherlands. His contacts with Eastern Europeans led to his being suspected by the Dutch government of being a communist, though in reality Van Wijk was a harsh critic of communism. Following his death, his personal library, which comprised around 7,000 books, was donated to the Leiden University Library.