Gelske Venema-Brouwer (6 January 1876 — 20 January 1957) was a Dutch female

kortebaanschaatsen Kortebaanschaatsen (short track skating) refers to an old form of Dutch ice skating tournament that goes back to the 18th century. It is not to be confused with the modern speed skating sport known as short track speed skating. The sport is similar ...

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. During her 28-year speed skating career she won a total of 77 prizes and 20 premiums.

Early life

Brouwer was born in

Achtkarspelen Achtkarspelen () is a municipality in Friesland in the northern Netherlands. History The name ''Achtkarspelen'', literally meaning "eight parishes", is derived from the original eight parishes within the ''grietenij'', namely: Augustinusga, Buite ...

, the daughter of a sea captain. Later she moved to

Bergum Burgum is the largest and administrative town of the municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel, in the Dutch province of Friesland. It had a population of 10,058 inhabitants in January 2017. On 1 January 1989 the official name of the village was change ...

. As a child she showed skating ability, but her parents would not allow her to participate in speed skating competitions. Venema-Brouwer started with competitive speed skating in the winter of 1898–1899, after her marriage to Taeke Venema, also a skipper's child.

Speed skating career

Venema-Brouwer's first competition was in Bergumer-Nieuwstad. she skated together with her husband, and at that time their first child was only seven weeks old. Because her skates were on board her parents' ship, she skated on borrowed skates. They won a premium. A few days later Venema-Brouwer competed again together with her husband at a competition in

Twijzel Twijzel ( fry, Twizel) is a village in Achtkarspelen in the province of Friesland, the Netherlands, with a population of around 1080. The village was first mentioned around 1240 as Twislum, and means near the crossroads. Twijzel was a stretched li ...

. In this competition they won the first prize. During this speed skating season Venema-Brouwer kept improving. She won the first prize at the competition Nieuwebrug near

Hoogkerk Hoogkerk is a town in the Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Penn ...

, beating Mina Oost. Later Venema-Brouwer competed in competitions with the highest prize money, against the strongest speed skaters. Venema-Brouwer competed and won many prizes also in Groningen. She won among others 3 times in Helpman and 4 times in

Leek The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of ''Allium ampeloprasum'', the broadleaf wild leek ( syn. ''Allium porrum''). The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk. The genus ''Alli ...

. She won two Leekster branches and also a medal. Venema-Brouwe competed during 10 winters with Douwe van de Meer from Eernewoude. During one winter they won a prize in every competition they competed in. She has also won several prizes together with Cornelis Velstra. In 1903 Venema-Brouwe won during one week on six consecutive days six first prizes (

Grouw Grou ( nl, Grouw) is a town in the province Friesland of the Netherlands and had around 5655 citizens in January 2017. Since 2014 Grou is part of the municipality of Leeuwarden. The town is located on the lake and the . Heineken operated a distr ...

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; fy, Ljouwert, longname=yes /; Town Frisian: ''Liwwadden''; Leeuwarder dialect: ''Leewarden'') is a city and municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 123,107 (2019). It is the provincial capital and seat of the ...

Koudum Koudum is a village in the northern Netherlands. It is located in Súdwest-Fryslân, Friesland. Nearby villages include Molkwerum to the west, Workum to the north and Hemelum to the south. The population of Koudum was 2,700 in 2019. The nearest t ...

Akkrum Akkrum is a village in the Dutch province of Friesland. It is located in the municipality Heerenveen, about 17 km south of the city of Leeuwarden. Akkrum had about 3,395 inhabitants in 2017. History The village was first mentioned in 1315 as ...

, Roordahuizum). In 1911 she was the fastest rider in a main competition in

Tolbert Tolbert is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Berlinda Tolbert (born 1949), American film and television actress, ''The Jeffersons'' *Caroline Tolbert, American political scientist *Emanuel Tolbert (born 1958), American football ...

. During the strong winter of 1914-15 Venema-Brouwe won a total of f 600.

Family and death

In the last years of her career, Venema-Brouwer's daughter Aaltje also started competing in speed skating. She did not have the same success as her mother but they won prizes and premiums in the same competitions, in Appingedam and other locations. Venema-Brouwer died in

Burgum Burgum is the largest and administrative town of the municipality of Tytsjerksteradiel, in the Netherlands, Dutch province of Friesland. It had a population of 10,058 inhabitants in January 2017. On 1 January 1989 the official name of the villa ...

in January 1957, aged 81.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venema-Brouwer, Gelske Dutch female speed skaters 1876 births 1957 deaths People from Achtkarspelen 19th-century Dutch women 20th-century Dutch women Sportspeople from Friesland