Elisabeth Cheixaou (1907–1997)

Elisabeth Cheixaou was the pseudonym of Bonny Louise Elisabeth de Graaf-Boukema, born in the province of Drenthe, The Netherlands. Her father was a pastor in the Reformed Church. Her mother was partly Polish/Lithuanian, and Elisabeth's pen name Cheixaou was borrowed from a great-grandmother on that side of the family -- it was pronounced "sheikzou."

She wrote several volumes of religious poetry, making her debut in 1946 with Witte donderdag (Maundy Thursday). She also wrote essays and four nonfiction books, including Sophia en Zarathustra (1977). In 1932, Elisabeth married Jan de Graaf, director of a factory in Driebergen destroyed during World War II.
In 1953, her husband was appointed
honorary consul of Ticino, Switzerland. The couple lived in a centuries-old guest house visited by artists and scientists.
In 1991, after her husband died, Elisabeth returned to live in Zeist, Holland.