Pieter Verhoeff was born in Noordgouwe in Zeeland, grew up in Amsterdam, and lived and worked most of his life (from 1919 to 1961) in Leeuwarden, where he was an art teacher at the H.B.S. He also made many map engravings to provide for his maintenance, including several times the city map of Leeuwarden. In addition, as a free artist, he painted and photographed.