Topic: Van Helsing

Professor Abraham van Helsing is a protagonist from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.

van Helsing is a Dutch doctor with a wide range of interests and accomplishments, partly attested by the string of letters that follows his name: "M.D., D.Ph., D.Litt., etc." The character is best known as a vampire hunter, and the arch-enemy of Count Dracula.

The typically Dutch prefix "van" gives the name a Dutch appearance. If Dutch, the "v" in his last name should not be capitalized. The character however uses German words instead of Dutch, such as "mein Gott" and "toll", which translate in English to "my God" and "amazing" respectively. At the time, German was a lingua franca throughout most of northern and central continental Europe, including the Nordic countries and Transylvania, a fact Stoker uses in the story when van Helsing's friend Jonathan Harker and the locals of Transylvania talk to each other using German.