H. R. Rookmaaker (1922-1977) was a Dutch scholar, professor and author who wrote and lectured on art history, art theory, music, philosophy and Christianity. He grew up in the Dutch East Indies. As a young man in wartime Holland he was sent to a prisoner of war camp in Poland and became a Christian during that time. In 1948 a lifelong friendship with Francis Schaeffer began. In 1959 Rookmaaker published his doctoral thesis on the artist Gauguin and in 1965 he was invited to the Chair of Art History at the Free University of Amsterdam. Rookmaaker was also highly respected as a music critic.