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Dieuwertje Blok

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Dieuwertje Blok
Blok in 2018
Born
Dieuwer Sarah Blok

(1957-08-08) 8 August 1957 (age 67)
Known forHet Sinterklaasjournaal
Spouse
(m. 1992)
Children2
FatherDick Blok
Relatives

Dieuwer Sarah "Dieuwertje" Blok (born 8 August 1957) is a Dutch actress and television presenter best known for presenting Het Sinterklaasjournaal from 2001 to 2024.

Early life and education

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Dieuwer Sarah Blok was born on 8 August 1957 in Nederhorst den Berg, North Holland.[1] She is the second of three daughters of the Dutch historian Dick Blok and Hennie Gazan, a Dutch Jew. She is the maternal granddaughter of Dutch Jewish artist and comedian Stella Fontaine [nl].[2][3] During the Second World War, Blok's mother and her Jewish family went into hiding, with most of her immediate family killed by Nazi German occupiers, except for her parents, grandparents and one cousin.[3] She married Blok's father, a non-Jew, in 1955.[3] Influenced by the war, Blok's parents raised her to believe in political participation and social responsibility, and to fight against prejudice and for political freedom; this would influence Blok's political beliefs in her later life.[3] Blok's younger sister is Tessel Blok [nl], a radio presenter.[4]

Blok went to school in the Gooi and in Hilversum.[5] She passed the entrance exam for Gemeentelijk Gymnasium Hilversum and studied there for three years.[6] Although her father wanted her to attend a gymnasium, Blok disliked the school and started to fail at her studies there in her second year after she started rebelling by taking drugs, drinking and stealing money.[6][5] At this time, she wanted to leave the gymnasium and study in England as an au pair.[5] According to Blok's sister Tessel, Blok wanted to stop using drugs and believed that moving abroad was the only way to do so.[4] After her third year at the gymnasium, she dropped out and started attending Frederik van Eeden MAVO Hilversum, where she felt she fit in better because of the less academic atmosphere of the school.[6][5] After the completion of her studies, she moved to Knowl Hill, England, where she spent a year as an au pair for three boys and studied the Certificate in Advanced English.[5][6]

Personal life

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Blok has been married to the journalist Peter de Bie [nl] since 1992. She has two children, a daughter and a son, from a previous marriage.[2] She is an atheist.[5][7]

References

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  1. ^ Thewissen, Pascale (5 November 2022). "Veelzijdig en al 22 jaar het gezicht van één programma: Dieuwertje Blok is de Swiebertje van Het Sinterklaasjournaal" [Versatile and the face of one program for 22 years: Dieuwertje Blok is the Swiebertje of Het Sinterklaasjournaal]. De Limburger (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b Buisman, Stephanie (7 November 2022). "Dieuwertje Blok: alles wat je wil weten over de presentatrice van het Sinterklaasjournaal" [Dieuwertje Blok: everything you want to know about the presenter of the Sinterklaasjournaal]. Bazaar (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Aboutaleb, Yasmina (Spring 2022). "'Mijn moeder werd Joods door de oorlog'" ['My mother became Jewish because of the war']. NC Magazine (in Dutch). No. 23. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  4. ^ a b "'Dieuwertje Blok kon zich alleen losweken uit de drugs-scene door naar het buitenland te gaan'" ['Dieuwertje Blok could only break free from the drug scene by going abroad']. Superguide Veronica (in Dutch). 7 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Pfauth, Ernst-Jan (29 November 2022). "Interview: Dieuwertje Blok: De eigenzinnige presentator die haar onafhankelijkheid bewaakt" [Interview: Dieuwertje Blok: The quirky presenter who guards her independence]. Jonge Jaren (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  6. ^ a b c d Jansen, Jim; de Brock, Peter (15 January 2023). "Deze bekende Nederlanders begonnen allemaal op de mavo: 'Voor mij juist een zegen'" [These well-known Dutch people all started at mavo: 'A blessing for me']. AD (in Dutch). Retrieved 24 November 2024.
  7. ^ "Dieuwertje Blok: door de jaren heen" [Dieuwertje Blok: through the years]. Bnnvara (in Dutch). 16 October 2017.