- his uncle, Vincent Van Gogh, known often in the family correspondence as "Uncle Cent", but I do not know what his particular middle name
- his brother Vincent Van Gogh, who would have been Vincent's older brother had the baby survived, but alas, the first Vincent Willem was a stillborn. He was born and pronounced dead on arrival on 30 March 1852, a year to the day before our Vincent Willem was born. The gravestone is pictured above.
- his paternal grandfather, Vincent Van Gogh (1780 - 1874) a minister who is thought to have been named after his uncle, a sculptor named (you guessed it ) Vincent Van Gogh (1729 - 1802.)
The name Willem and the feminine version Willemina pop up frequently in Dutch names, but I have not been able to determine if the Willem part of Van Gogh's name is after any particular relative.
Willem (English equivalent William) is a two-part name. The "Wil" part means "desire" while the "lem" part means "helmet" or other protective headgear. So, putting it all together, "Willem" means "desire helmet." Not a particularly apt name for our lad Vincent.
What did Vincent Van Gogh say about cutting of his own ear?
ReplyDeleteFind the answer in an interview with Vincent (imaginary) in stenote.blogspot.com/2016/07/an-interview-with-vincent.html