ELEONORA JACOBA LANS was born in a village north of
Bandoeng,a city in the mountains of West Java in the Dutch Indies
colonies.
Her father was a tea planter and her mother a "Raden Ayu",a
member of an aristocratic family of the region.
According to history of the Dutch Indies colonies at the time,it
was not unusual for commoners to marry into nobility.
However,if a woman of aristocratic family married a commoner she
would loose all her rights to her family.
Elenora Jacoba Lans married Peter Johanus Wagner,a Dutchman
born in Renesse,a small fisher's village in Zeeland, one of the
southern provinces of Holland. He was serving in the colonies as
a public servant. They had three children. Regrettably for his
family ,the marriage was not compatible and they separated when
we were still small children.
I was only five years old when my mother left us. I can still
remember the day.
As young children we were brought home from school by a horse
drawn coach and when we came home that day she simply wasn't
there anymore. I was told that she had gone to visit an aunt..
The year was 1937.
It wasn't until 1987 that I made my peace with her and what she
had done. We reconciled and had a loving relationship until she
passed away in l998. I came to love her for the mother she was.
She always showed much interest in my art and I often wonder what
direction my life would have taken if she was around when I was a
boy.
The photo you see is that of her with my older BROERTJE JANTJE ,
my younger ZUSJE MEITIE and myself,...the bold looking kid
,looking for the bird the photographer promised but which never
came.
In my life,I have never enjoyed the love and constant care
that only a mother can give to her children. I fervently believe
in this emotional personal bond and dedicate this page to my
mother's loving memory.
