Willem Arondeus (1894 - 1943) is a dutch artist and author, who joined the anti-Nazi movement in the Netherlands during World War II. He was arrested when he participated in a bombing in Amsterdam to prevent the identification of thousands of Dutch Jews by Nazi Germany. Shortly after his arrest he was executed. He was openly gay before the war started and right before he was executed he proclaimed his sexuality again.
Willem Arondeus started as an illustrator, painter and designer of tapestries and posters. Early in his life he befriended poet Adriaan Roland Holst, who influenced and inspired him in the rest of his work. He painted a large mural painting for the city hall in Rotterdam. He also illustrated poems of different artist, such as Pieter Cornelis Boutens, Martinus Nijhoff and Jan Hendrik Leopold. He gave up visual arts in 1935 and started writing poems and stories.
Arondeus died in July 1943 after being executed. When the Netherlands was liberated from Nazi Germany Arondeus received a posthumous medal and was reburied at the Erebegraafplaats at Bloemendaal.
