In memoriam: Cor Klaasse

Cor Klaasse, the former editor-in-chief of Quod Novum, passed away on Saturday, 19 October, at the age of 73. Cor worked for Erasmus University from 1974 to 2008. For twenty years, Cor served as the editor, executive editor and editor-in-chief of Quod Novum, the predecessor of Erasmus Magazine. In addition, he worked for over a decade for EUR’s Department of Internal and External Relations, now known as the Marketing & Communication department.

“The colophon listed Cor as the editor-in-chief, but this job description doesn’t do justice to everything he did”, wrote journalist Marcel Haenen (editor at Quod Novum from 1981 to 1984) in the Liber Amicorum presented to Cor when he left Erasmus University in 2008. “Cor didn’t just write a mass of articles, he also watered the plants, hoovered the offices every six months, arranged the catering and actually delivered the weekly newspaper every week in an old French jalopy.” Haenen called him the ‘head of the editorial household’, a true father figure for the student editors enjoying an interesting side job in journalism.

Exhibition

As the editors of Erasmus Magazine, we felt honoured these past few months that despite his illness, Cor was happy to think along about the ‘Illustratum’ exhibition. Many of the old satirical cartoons presented in this exhibition were actually published in Quod Novum during his tenure. Cor remembered that when he headed Erasmus Magazine’s predecessor, there was no censorship whatsoever. Be it text or illustrations, nothing was considered unsuitable for publication. This perspective on journalism is encapsulated in Cor’s wise words on the Erasmus Gallery wall: “We never decided not to publish an illustration because we felt it might be a bit much. We didn’t take anything into account.”

Cor’s words form the core of the ‘Illustratum’ exhibition, as well as an integral part of the soul of Quod Novum – and as such of today’s Erasmus Magazine. “The statements made by Cor and other former editors-in-chief made me realise that we are all driven by the same spirit in our work”, says EM’s editor-in-chief Wieneke Gunneweg. “As a university medium, it is our task to cast a critical eye on developments at EUR. But we shouldn’t take everything seriously all the time – ourselves included.”

Unfortunately, Cor was unable to attend the opening of the exhibition. But he enjoyed the photos of the opening, the special exhibition newspaper and prints of a number of satirical cartoons published when he stood at the helm of Quod Novum – and we take this as a huge compliment.

The editors of Erasmus Magazine wish Cor’s family and friends great strength in this difficult time.