Martinus Nijhoff was born in The Hague. He grew up in a literary atmosphere, his father being a bookseller and publisher. He studied literature in Amsterdam and law in Utrecht and began to publish in 1916 with De wandelaar (The Wanderer). He was a prominent critic and editor from 1926–1933 and from 1941–1946 of the influential journal De gids. He also translated from Euripides, Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot and some psalms for the Dutch Hymnal.