M. Vasalis, pseudonym for Margaretha (Kiekie) Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans (13 February 1909 in The Hague – 16 October 1998 in Roden) was a Dutch poet and psychiatrist. The pseudonym 'Vasalis' is a Latinization of her last name 'Leenmans'. The 'M' does not stand for 'Maria' as is sometimes incorrectly reported. The poetess initially wanted to publish her work without revealing that her poems were written by a woman. When, through Simon Vestdijk (a Dutch novelist), she had the chance to make her debut in the literary magazine Groot Nederland', they did not allow her to sign her work with merely her initials, the poetess decided to write and publish under a pseudonym. Since her father had written and published under the name 'Vazal' while he was a student, she decided to play with this Latin translation of her last name, which resulted in Vasalis. Life and work Vasalis grew up in the outskirts of Scheveningen, a Dutch city by the sea. Margaretha Leenmans (Kiekie or Kiek for friends) studied medicine and anthropology at Leiden University. She was a member of the sorority 'Zestigpoot, which means 'sixty legs'. They named themselves after the fifteen members and their four limbs (15x4). The crown princess Juliana was also a member. They re-wrote the fairytale about Bluebeard into a new theater play that was performed by the members of the sorority. Leenmans had the part of Bluebeard and Juliana that of the wife.[3] After her education, in 1939 she settled in Amsterdam to work as a medical doctor. Later she worked as a psychiatrist for children in Assen and Groningen (the Netherlands). During the thirties, she befriended J.C. Bloem, Adriaan Roland Holst, Albert van Dalsum, Victor van Vriesland, Titus Leeser and many others at the 'salon artistique' hosted by the lawyer Harro Bouman and his wife Carina Bouman-Hofstede Crull. It was in 1939 that she married Jan Droogleever Fortuyn, who was to become a professor in neurology. In 1940, Vasalis made her debut with the bundle 'Parken en woestijnen' which translates to 'parks and deserts'. Other works of poetry are 'De vogel Phoenix' (1947) and 'Vergezichten en gezichten' (1954). The three poetry bundles that were published during her lifetime only contained about one hundred poems.[4] 'De oude kustlijn''' appeared posthumously in 2002. Her children Lous, Hal and Maria Droogleever Fortuyn took care of this publication, as she had asked them to. Vasalis wrote traditional poems