Leonard De Vries

Leonard de Vries was a Dutch writer of popular technical books for boys covering such topics as radio, television, electricity, chemistry, photography, astronomy and atomic physics. He worked in the chemical lab of the Dutch Petroleum Company at the beginning of WWII.

In 1942, when the Germans began to persecute the Jews en masse, De Vries, who was of Jewish descent, went into hiding. His father and mother and many other family members were killed in the concentration camps in Germany. During his time in hiding he wrote 'The Boys Hobby Club' first published in 1947. In 1949 the first issue of the magazine 'Hobby Club' appeared. This lead to the formation of over 70 hobby clubs.