HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Cornelis "Kees" Boeke (25 September 1884 3 July 1966) was a Dutch reformist
educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
,
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...
and
pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...
. He is best known for his popular essay/book ''
Cosmic View ''Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps'' is a 1957 book by Dutch educator Kees Boeke that combines writing and graphics to explore many levels of size and structure, from the astronomically vast to the atomically tiny. The book begins with a ph ...
'' (1957) which presents a seminal view of the universe, from the galactic to the microscopic scale, and which inspired several films. Boeke tried to reform education by allowing the children to contribute their ideas. He called this process
sociocracy Sociocracy is a theory of governance that seeks to create psychologically safe environments and productive organizations. It draws on the use of consent, rather than majority voting, in discussion and decision-making by people who have a shar ...
and regarded schools as workshops, with pupils as workers, and teachers as co-workers. Based on
Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
ideas, he wanted the children to respect
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
. In 1926, he founded a school in
Bilthoven Bilthoven is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of De Bilt. It has a railway station with connections to Utrecht, Amersfoort and Baarn. It is home to the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health an ...
, which he led until 1954. As a child, the later Dutch
Queen Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...
attended the school.


Biography

Boeke was born on 25 September 1884 to a
Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...
family in
Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
, Netherlands, where he grew up. He studied
architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
at the
Delft University of Technology Delft University of Technology ( nl, Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the oldest and largest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. As of 2022 it is ranked by QS World University Rankings among ...
. As a student, he spent a year in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, where he met the Quakers. He became a Quaker and attended
Woodbrooke Quaker Study Centre Woodbrooke Study Centre is a Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFr ...
s, a college in
Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harborne ...
,
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. There, he found inspiration in
Bournville Bournville () is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alcohol was forbidd ...
, the garden village which the
Cadbury family The Cadbury family is a wealthy British family of Quaker industrialists descending from Richard Tapper Cadbury. * Richard Tapper Cadbury (1768–1860) draper and abolitionist, who financed his sons' start-up business **John Cadbury (1801–1889) ...
(owners of the chocolate factory) had built for their workers. He met and married Beatrice (Betty) Cadbury. The couple went to modern day Lebanon in 1912 as Quaker missionaries, where Kees was headmaster at the Brummana School. In 1914, after the outbreak of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, they returned to England. They became active in peace work, the
Fellowship of Reconciliation The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FoR or FOR) is the name used by a number of religious nonviolent organizations, particularly in English-speaking countries. They are linked by affiliation to the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR). ...
having come into being in 1914 through
Henry Hodgkin Henry Theodore Hodgkin (1877–1933) was a medical doctor and a British Quaker missionary who, in the course of his 55-year life, co-founded the West China Union University in Chengdu, co-founded and led the first Christian pacifist movement, the ...
. In 1915 Boeke traveled to
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, where he met
Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze Friedrich Siegmund-Schultze (14 June 1885, in Görlitz – 11 July 1969, in Soest) was a German academic working in theology, social pedagogy and social ethics, as well as a pioneer of peace movements. Life After studying at several gymnas ...
, with whom Hodgkin had been working at the outbreak of war. Boeke began to speak publicly in England: "The Germans are our brothers; God did not create man that he might kill; the war will find its quickest end when all soldiers lay down their weapons." He was deported from
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
and returned to the Netherlands. His family followed; there they lived in Bilthoven, near
Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...
. Their home soon became a pacifist centre. Later in the Second World War, Boeke took part in the underground Dutch resistance movement against the same Germans that he called brothers before. This was, however, in line with his ideas of anti-authoritianism and his disapproval of war and prosecution.Ojajärvi Rony. ''Spirit of the Comintern? Historical Contexts of the Movement towards a Christian international 1919-1923''. In Kircliche Zeitgeschichte/Contemporary Church History 1/2020, 168-178. After the First World War, Boeke erected a large conference centre in Bilthoven, which he called "Brotherhood House." The first international peace conference took place there between 4 and 11 October 1919. Present at the conference were Leon Revoyne,
Mathilda Wrede Mathilda Wrede (March 8, 1864, Vaasa – December 25, 1928), was a Finnish evangelist and baroness, known for being a precursor in the rehabilitation of prisoners, and known in Finland as "Friend of the prisoners". Life Her father, Carl Gustaf ...
, Leonard Ragaz, Pierre Ceresole, as well as Hodgkin and Schultze. Boeke and Ceresole became the secretaries of this movement, which initially called itself "Christian International", later the
International Fellowship of Reconciliation The International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) is a non-governmental organization founded in 1914 in response to the horrors of war in Europe. Today IFOR counts 71 branches, groups and affiliates in 48 countries on all continents. IFOR me ...
. Together with
Helene Stöcker Helene Stöcker (13 November 1869 – 24 February 1943) was a German feminist, pacifist and gender activist. She successfully campaigned keep same sex relationships between women legal, but she was unsuccessful in her campaign to legalise abortion ...
, and
Wilfred Wellock Wilfred Wellock (2 January 1879 – 22 July 1972) was a socialist Gandhian and sometime Labour politician and MP. Life He was imprisoned as a conscientious objector in the First World War. He was elected at Member of Parliament (MP) for Member ...
, they founded the
Service Civil International Service Civil International (SCI) is an international peace organisation. Since 1920, it organises international volunteering projects in the form of workcamps and it was the first organisation worldwide to do so. The organisation was founded by S ...
and in 1921 "Paco" (the
Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...
word for peace), which in 1923 became
War Resisters' International War Resisters' International (WRI), headquartered in London, is an international anti-war organisation with members and affiliates in over 30 countries. History ''War Resisters' International'' was founded in Bilthoven, Netherlands in 1921 unde ...
(WRI). Kees and Betty Boeke considered war to be rooted in the entanglement of the
state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
and
capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...
. As Betty was a Cadbury, she inherited large shares in her family's firm. She renounced her wealth, transferring this money to various charitable organizations such as the Quaker-Help Organisation in Russia in 1920. Later, she gave the shares to a trust for the workers of the Cadbury factory. For a while, the Boekes abstained from using money, so as to avoid contributing to the state — since public funds are also spent on weapons. They never used public transport, nor did they pay postage, tolls, or taxes. As a result, they were imprisoned several times. On one occasion the Dutch tax authorities auctioned off the estate in order to recover taxes.
Queen Wilhelmina Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the ...
was in attendance at the auction, and purchased Kees' favorite violin, only to return it to him on the spot. Boeke supported his family by working in Utrecht in a building association which he had founded; he did not work as an architect (which was his training), but as a simple worker. In the late 1920s Boeke increasingly withdrew from international peace movements. Believing he could build a better society through educating children, he started a school called "De werkplaats" (the workshop). He founded his school in 1926 when all private schools, including the
Montessori school The Montessori method of education involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing real-world skills. It emphasizes indepen ...
his children attended, started receiving an equal amount of money per child from the state, to which he objected. His school, which uses Maria Montessori's methods, extended by Boeke's own educational ideas, became nationally known; even the Dutch queen Juliana sent her daughters there. The school has been hugely influential for its creative way of making the students co-responsible for their own curriculum, together with the teachers; many students who failed in regular schools have blossomed at "De werkplaats", but on the other hand many talented children could not reach a high level in this school. Co-responsibility in school did not mean a freewheeling life at "the Werkplaats". Children had to perform tasks such as cleaning the school, growing vegetables and fruits, and helping with lunch cooking. Boeke's notion of sociocracy was, in effect, a secular implementation of the Quaker ideals applied to education in such a way that children were treated as adults, and were on first-name terms with their teachers. In WWII, Kees and Betty sheltered Jews at their own peril, saving several lives. For this work, they were enshrined in Yad Vashem () in 1992. Boeke wrote a major book on education. One of his last works was ''
Cosmic View ''Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps'' is a 1957 book by Dutch educator Kees Boeke that combines writing and graphics to explore many levels of size and structure, from the astronomically vast to the atomically tiny. The book begins with a ph ...
'' (New York 1957). On 3 July 1966, Boeke died in the company of his family in
Abcoude Abcoude () is a town and former municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. Since 2011 it has been part of the municipality of De Ronde Venen. Population centres The former municipality of Abcoude consisted of the villages Abco ...
, Netherlands.


Legacy

Boeke's system of
sociocracy Sociocracy is a theory of governance that seeks to create psychologically safe environments and productive organizations. It draws on the use of consent, rather than majority voting, in discussion and decision-making by people who have a shar ...
still survives, and his work was expanded upon through the efforts of a well-known student of Boeke's ideas, Dr.
Gerard Endenburg Gerard Endenburg (born 1933) is a Dutch entrepreneur, who developed the Sociocratic Circle Organisation Method (SCM), which is a decision-making method for governing and managing organizations and societies based on equivalence and draws inspir ...
, who in the 1960s and 1970s developed a governance and decision-making methodology by the same name while directing the Endenburg Electrotechniek company. Boeke's essay/book ''
Cosmic View ''Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps'' is a 1957 book by Dutch educator Kees Boeke that combines writing and graphics to explore many levels of size and structure, from the astronomically vast to the atomically tiny. The book begins with a ph ...
'' (1957) presents a seminal view of the universe, from the galactic to the microscopic scale. It inspired several films: * ''
Cosmic Zoom ''Cosmic Zoom'' is a 1968 short film directed by Robert Verrall and produced by the National Film Board of Canada. It depicts the relative size of everything in the universe in an 8-minute sequence using animation and animation camera shots. Sy ...
'' (1968) produced by the
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
* ''
Powers of Ten A power of 10 is any of the integer exponentiation, powers of the number 10 (number), ten; in other words, ten multiplication, multiplied by itself a certain number of times (when the power is a positive integer). By definition, the number one is ...
'' (1968; new version in 1977) by
Charles and Ray Eames Charles Eames ( Charles Eames, Jr) and Ray Eames ( Ray-Bernice Eames) were an American married couple of industrial designers who made significant historical contributions to the development of modern architecture and furniture through the work of ...
* The
IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...
film '' Cosmic Voyage'' (1996) produced for the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
's
National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Nat ...
. * ''Superpowers of Ten'' (2013), a theater piece produced by
Andrés Jaque Andrés Jaque is an architect, writer and curator. In 2016, he was awarded with the 10th Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts. In 2014, he won the Silver Lion to the Best Project at the 14th Venice Biennale. His work explores ...
and performed at the Lisbon Triennial, the Chicago Architectural Biennial,
Museo Jumex Museo may refer to: * Museo, 2018 Mexican drama heist film *Museo (Naples Metro) Museo is a station on line 1 of the Naples Metro. It was opened on 5 April 2001 as the eastern terminus of the section of the line between Vanvitelli and Museo. O ...
in Mexico and
ZKM The ZKM , Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe (until March 2016: ZKM Center for Art and Media Technology), a cultural institution, was founded in 1989. and since 1997 is located in a listed industrial building in Karlsruhe, Germany, a former muni ...
in Karlsruhe * ''Cosmic View'' is mentioned as an inspiration by Will Wright, creator of a
video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
, ''
Spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, f ...
'' (2008).Cosmic view, inspiration for a video game.
''The Guardian'', 14 September 2008


See also

*
List of peace activists This list of peace activists includes people who have proactively advocated diplomatic, philosophical, and non-military resolution of major territorial or ideological disputes through nonviolent means and methods. Peace activists usually work ...


External links


Official Website of the Werkplaats Kindergemeenschap

Archief Kees BoekeOnline copy of the book ''Cosmic View''
*''
Cosmic View ''Cosmic View: The Universe in 40 Jumps'' is a 1957 book by Dutch educator Kees Boeke that combines writing and graphics to explore many levels of size and structure, from the astronomically vast to the atomically tiny. The book begins with a ph ...
'', the Universe in 40 Jumps (1957, John Day Company)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boeke, Kees 1884 births 1966 deaths Dutch anti-capitalists Dutch educators Tax resisters Converts to Quakerism Dutch Quakers People from Alkmaar Delft University of Technology alumni Dutch Christian socialists Dutch Christian pacifists Dutch anti-war activists Nonviolence Quaker socialists