Piet Hein (Dec. 16, 1905 - Apr. 17, 1996) was a
Danish poet, famous for his short poems that he called
Grook (
Gruk in Danish). He debuted with a book simply called "Gruk" in 1940 under the pseudonym
Kumbel Kumbell. Throughout his life, he wrote many poem books and recieved several literature prizes.
Anyone not familiar with Piet Hein should read some of his poems, as they can be very funny with serious overtones. His excellence with the Danish language is unfortunately hard to appreciate in English. Nonetheless, Piet Hein learned several foreign languages, including English, with the sole purpose of translating his own poems.
Piet Hein was actually a descendant of the famous Dutch privateer.