Anna Maria van Schurmann, first student, is the most important historical figure in the city of Utrecht

The elections were first held by the Oud-Utrecht Assembly, due to celebrate the 900th anniversary of city rights. Utrecht residents can submit names that have been shortlisted. The other nominees are: Dick Bruna, Bill van Zuylen, Anton Gesink, Pope Adrian, Hendrik V and Trien van Limpot.

The people who came to vote for one of these candidates at the Old Town Hall on Saturday evening, judged by a large majority that Anna Maria van Schurmann is the most attractive historical figure in Utrecht. She was the first female student in Holland, and perhaps even in all of Europe. In 1636 he was admitted to the newly established University of Utrecht.

Van Schurmann—also known as “The Tenth Moses” by her contemporaries—attended lectures on theology, literature, and medicine from behind a curtain. She has lived in a house behind the Dome Tower for over forty years. Like many women of her day, she learned Latin. In that language she published an argument about the suitability of the female mind to science and literature.

This argument was the reason why her neighbor and professor of theology and oriental languages ​​Gisbertus Voetius van Schormann accepted his lectures. Especially, because at that time women were not considered suitable for science.

As the best Latino in town, the Utrecht girl was also invited to write a poem for the university’s opening. This brought her and Utrecht University fame at home and abroad. She never married, and preferred to devote herself entirely to science and the arts.

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