ABSTRACT
Anna Maria van Schurman, a scholar gifted in many ancient, classical, and European vernacular languages, was the first Dutch woman to study at a university. Her expertise in the disciplines of philosophy and theology and her talent as an artist contributed to her fame and contemporary reputation as “The Star of Utrecht.” Van Schurman’s formal education commenced when her father, perceiving her interest and intelligent responses to her brothers’ Latin lessons, gave her Seneca to read. Her private education continued for years, enriched by correspondence and disputes with scholars as notable as Andreas Rivet and Frederic Spanheim, both professors at Leiden University, and Gisbertus Voetius, rector, professor, and her family’s neighbor in Utrecht, but also characterized by prodigious self-study. Compared to other writers of her time, especially other women, van Schurman’s education and scholarly achievements were extraordinary. By the 1640s she was well versed in fourteen languages and wrote in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, French, Arabic, Persian, Ethiopian (a language for which she wrote a grammar), German, and Dutch. Many considered her to be the best Latinist in Utrecht.2
