as a young man, wijnkoop attended several schools. he started at the henry wester school, a primary school located at the weesperplein in amsterdam. from there he went to the barlaeus gymnasium, where he came across the anti-jewish incident, described earlier. later he studied arts at the amsterdam municipal university until april 14, 1899. he never finished this study, due to his social and political activities under the influence of ferdinand domela nieuwenhuis.