English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
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
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
also Leyden) is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
of
South Holland
South Holland ( nl, Zuid-Holland ) is a province of the Netherlands with a population of over 3.7 million as of October 2021 and a population density of about , making it the country's most populous province and one of the world's most densely ...
,
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration with its suburbs
Oegstgeest
Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in .
Etymology
The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cent ...
,
Leiderdorp
Leiderdorp () is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland near the city of Leiden. It had a population of in .
The municipality covers an area of of which is water. Leiderdorp has now become a suburb ...
,
Voorschoten
Voorschoten () is a village and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It is a smaller town in the Randstad, enclosed by the cities of Leiden, Wassenaar and The Hague. The municipality covers an area of of whi ...
and
Zoeterwoude
Zoeterwoude () is a municipality in the province of South Holland, Western Netherlands. It covers of which is water. It had a population of in .
Located to the southeast of Leiden and north of Zoetermeer, the municipality of Zoeterwoude consist ...
Katwijk
Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands.
The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...
in the agglomeration which makes the total population of the Leiden urban agglomeration 270,879, and in the larger Leiden urban area also
Teylingen
Teylingen () is a municipality in the Western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. It was created on 1 January 2006, through the amalgamation of Sassenheim, Voorhout and Warmond. It is named after Teylingen Castle, located in Voorhout. In ...
,
Noordwijk
Noordwijk () is a town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The municipality covers an area of of which is water and had a population of in .
On 1 January 2019, the former municipality of Noordwij ...
, and
Noordwijkerhout
Noordwijkerhout () is a town and former municipality in the western part of the Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The town is currently part of the municipality of Noordwijk and lies in the bulb-growing region (the Duin- en Bollenstre ...
are included with in total 348,868 inhabitants. Leiden is located on the Oude Rijn, at a distance of some from
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
to its south and some from
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
to its north. The recreational area of the Kaag Lakes (
Kagerplassen {{coord, 52, 12, 19, N, 4, 32, 18, E, type:waterbody_region:NL_scale:60000, display=title
The ''Kagerplassen'' (a Dutch term meaning "the Kaag Lakes") is a small lake system in South Holland located to the northeast of Leiden.Some of the informa ...
) lies just to the northeast of Leiden.
A university city since 1575, Leiden has been one of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
's most prominent scientific centres for more than four centuries. Leiden is a typical university city, university buildings are scattered throughout the city and the many students from all over the world give the city a bustling, vivid and international atmosphere. Many important scientific discoveries have been made here, giving rise to Leiden's motto: ‘City of Discoveries’. The city houses
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
, the oldest university of the Netherlands, and
Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden University Medical Center (Dutch: ''Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum'') or LUMC is the university hospital affiliated with Leiden University, of which it forms the medical faculty. It is located in Leiden, Netherlands. LUMC is a modern un ...
. Leiden University is one of Europe's top universities, with thirteen Nobel Prize winners. It is a member of the League of European Research Universities and positioned highly in all international academic rankings. It is twinned with
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, the location of the United Kingdom's oldest
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
. Leiden University and Leiden University of Applied Sciences (Leidse Hogeschool) together have around 35,000 students. Modern scientific medical research and teaching started in the early 18th century in Leiden with Boerhaave.
Leiden is a city with a rich cultural heritage, not only in science, but also in the arts. One of the world's most famous painters,
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
, was born and educated in Leiden. Other famous Leiden painters include Lucas van Leyden,
Jan van Goyen
Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapesm marines, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscape, cityscap ...
and
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour.
Life ...
.
History
Leiden was formed on an artificial hill (today called the
Burcht van Leiden
The Burcht van Leiden (; Fort of Leiden) is an old shell keep in Leiden constructed in the 11th century. It is located at the spot where two tributaries of the Rhine come together, the Oude Rijn and the Nieuwe Rijn. The structure is on top of a ...
) at the confluence of the rivers Oude and Nieuwe Rijn (Old and New Rhine). In the oldest reference to this, from circa 860, the settlement was called ''Leithon''. The name is said to be from Germanic *leitha- "canal" in
dative
In grammar, the dative case (abbreviated , or sometimes when it is a core argument) is a grammatical case used in some languages to indicate the recipient or beneficiary of an action, as in "Maria Jacobo potum dedit", Latin for "Maria gave Jacob a ...
pluralis
The plural (sometimes abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the default quantity represented by that noun. This de ...
, thus meaning "at the canals". "Canal" is actually not the completely proper word. A leitha (later "lede") was a human-modified natural river, partly natural, partly artificial.
Leiden has in the past erroneously been associated with the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
Lugdunum Batavorum
Brittenburg was a Roman ruin site west of Leiden between Katwijk aan Zee and Noordwijk aan Zee, presumably identical to the even older Celtic Lugdunum fortress. The site is first mentioned in 1401, was uncovered more completely by storm erosion ...
. This particular ''castellum'' was thought to be located at the Burcht of Leiden, and the city's name was thought to be derived from the Latin name Lugdunum. However the castellum was in fact closer to the town of
Katwijk
Katwijk (), also spelled Katwyk, is a coastal municipality and town in the province of South Holland, which is situated in the mid-western part of the Netherlands.
The Oude Rijn ("Old Rhine") river flows through the town and into the North Se ...
, whereas the Roman settlement near modern-day Leiden was called
Matilo
Matilo or Matilone was once a Roman fort (''castellum'') in modern-day Leiden. Positioned on the southern banks of the Oude Rijn, it served to protect the Roman borders in the province of Germania Inferior ('' Limes Germanicus''). On the Peu ...
.
The landlord of Leiden, situated in a stronghold on the hill (motte), was initially subject to the Bishop of
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 ...
but around 1100 the
burgrave
Burgrave, also rendered as burggrave (from german: Burggraf, la, burgravius, burggravius, burcgravius, burgicomes, also praefectus), was since the medieval period in Europe (mainly Germany) the official title for the ruler of a castle, especial ...
s became subject to the county of Holland. This county got its name in 1101 from a domain near the stronghold: ''Holtland'' or ''Holland''.
Leiden was sacked in 1047 by Emperor Henry III. Early 13th century,
Ada, Countess of Holland
Ada ( – 1234/37) was Countess of Holland between 1203 and 1207, ruling jointly with her husband, Louis II of Loon. She was deposed and exiled by her paternal uncle, William I.Marion van Bussel,Ada van Hollandin Digitaal Vrouwenlexicon van Ne ...
took refuge here when she was fighting in a civil war against her uncle,
William I, Count of Holland
William I (c. 1167 – 4 February 1222) was count of Holland from 1203 to 1222. He was the younger son of Floris III and Ada of Huntingdon.
Early life
William was born in The Hague, but raised in Scotland. He participated in the Third Crusa ...
. He besieged the stronghold and captured Ada.
Leiden received
city rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
in 1266. In 1389, its population had grown to about 4,000 persons.
Siege of 1420
In 1420, during the
Hook and Cod wars
The Hook and Cod wars ( nl, Hoekse en Kabeljauwse twisten) comprise a series of wars and battles in the County of Holland between 1350 and 1490. Most of these wars were fought over the title of count of Holland, but some have argued that the u ...
, Duke John III of Bavaria along with his army marched from Gouda in the direction of Leiden in order to conquer the city since Leiden did not pay the new
Count of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...
Jacqueline, Countess of Hainaut
Jacqueline ( nl, Jacoba; french: Jacqueline; german: Jakobäa; 15 July 1401 – 8 October 1436), of the House of Wittelsbach, was a noblewoman who ruled the counties of Holland, Zeeland and Hainaut in the Low Countries from 1417 to 1433. She ...
, his niece and only daughter of Count William VI of Holland.
Burgrave Filips of Wassenaar and the other local noblemen of the Hook faction assumed that the duke would besiege Leiden first and send small units out to conquer the surrounding citadels. But John of Bavaria chose to attack the citadels first.
He rolled the cannons along with his army but one which was too heavy went by ship. By firing at the walls and gates with iron balls the citadels fell one by one. Within a week John of Bavaria conquered the castles of Poelgeest, Ter Does, Hoichmade, de Zijl, ter Waerd, Warmond and de Paddenpoel.
On 24 June the army appeared before the walls of Leiden. On 17 August 1420, after a two-month siege the city surrendered to John of Bavaria. The burgrave Filips of Wassenaar was stripped of his offices and rights and lived out his last years in captivity.
16th to 18th centuries
Leiden flourished in the 16th and 17th century. At the close of the 15th century the
weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal th ...
establishments (mainly
broadcloth
Broadcloth is a dense, plain woven cloth, historically made of wool. The defining characteristic of broadcloth is not its finished width but the fact that it was woven much wider (typically 50 to 75% wider than its finished width) and then hea ...
) of Leiden were very important. In the same period, Leiden developed an important printing and publishing industry. The influential printers Lucas van Leyden and
Otto van Veen
Otto van Veen, also known by his Latinized name Otto Venius or Octavius Vaenius (1556 – 6 May 1629), was a painter, draughtsman, and humanist active primarily in Antwerp and Brussels in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is known for r ...
lived here, and so did
Christoffel Plantijn
Christophe Plantin ( nl, Christoffel Plantijn; – 1 July 1589) was a French Renaissance humanist and book printer and publisher who resided and worked in Antwerp.
Life
Plantin was born in France, probably in Saint-Avertin, near the city o ...
. One of Christoffel's pupils was
Lodewijk Elzevir
Lodewijk Elzevir (c. 1540, Leuven – 4 February 1617, Leiden), originally ''Lodewijk or Louis Elsevier or Elzevier'', was a printer, born in the city of Leuven (today in Belgium, then part of the Habsburg Netherlands or Spanish Netherlands). He wa ...
(1547–1617), who established the largest bookshop and printing works in Leiden, a business continued by his descendants through 1712 and the name subsequently adopted (in a variant spelling) by contemporary publisher
Elsevier
Elsevier () is a Dutch academic publishing company specializing in scientific, technical, and medical content. Its products include journals such as ''The Lancet'', ''Cell'', the ScienceDirect collection of electronic journals, '' Trends'', th ...
.
In 1572, the city sided with the
Dutch revolt
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...
against Spanish rule and played an important role in the
Eighty Years' War
The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) ( c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Refo ...
.
Besieged
Besieged may refer to:
* the state of being under siege
* ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci
{{disambiguation ...
from May until October 1574 by the Spanish, Leiden was relieved by the cutting of the
dikes
Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to:
General uses
* Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian"
* Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment
* Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice
* Dikes ...
, thus enabling ships to carry provisions to the inhabitants of the flooded town. As a reward for the heroic defence of the previous year, the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
was founded by
William I of Orange
William the Silent (24 April 153310 July 1584), also known as William the Taciturn (translated from nl, Willem de Zwijger), or, more commonly in the Netherlands, William of Orange ( nl, Willem van Oranje), was the main leader of the Dutch Rev ...
in 1575. Yearly on 3 October, the end of the siege is still celebrated in Leiden. Tradition tells that the citizens were offered the choice between a university and a certain exemption from taxes and chose the university. The siege is notable also for being the first instance in Europe of the issuance of
paper money
A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand.
Banknotes were originally issued ...
, with paper taken from prayer books being stamped using coin dies when silver ran out.
Leiden is also known as the place where the Pilgrims (as well as some of the first settlers of
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
) lived, they operated a printing press for a time in the early 17th century before their departure to
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
and
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
in the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
. After the expulsion of the Spaniards, Leiden cloth, Leiden
baize
Baize is a coarse woollen (or in cheaper variants cotton) cloth, similar in texture to felt, but more durable.
History
A mid-17th-century English ditty—much quoted in histories of ale and beer brewing in England—refers to 1525:
Hops, her ...
and Leiden
camlet
Camlet, also commonly known as camlot, camblet, or chamlet, is a woven fabric that might have originally been made of camel or goat's hair, later chiefly of goat's hair and silk, or of wool and cotton. The original form of this cloth was very valu ...
became familiar terms.
In the 17th century, Leiden prospered, in part because of the impetus to the textile industry by refugees from
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...
. While the city had lost about a third of its 15,000 citizens during the siege of 1574, it quickly recovered to 45,000 inhabitants in 1622, and may have come near to 70,000 circa 1670. During the Dutch Golden Era, Leiden was the second largest city of Holland, after Amsterdam. Particularly due to the work by
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...
(1668–1738), it played a crucial role in the establishment of modern chemistry and medicine.
From the late 17th century onwards Leiden slumped, mainly due to the decline of the cloth industries. In the beginning of the 19th century the baize manufacture was altogether given up, although industry remained central to Leiden economy. This decline is painted vividly by the fall in population. The population of Leiden had sunk to 30,000 between 1796 and 1811, and in 1904 was 56,044.
From the 17th to the early 19th century, Leiden was the publishing place of one of the most important contemporary journals, '' Nouvelles Extraordinaires de Divers Endroits'', known also as ''Gazette de Leyde''.
19th and 20th centuries
On 12 January 1807, a
catastrophe
Catastrophe or catastrophic comes from the Greek κατά (''kata'') = down; στροφή (''strophē'') = turning ( el, καταστροφή). It may refer to:
A general or specific event
* Disaster, a devastating event
* The Asia Minor Catastro ...
struck the city when a boat loaded with of gunpowder blew up in the middle of Leiden. 151 people were killed, over 2,000 were injured and some 220 homes were destroyed. King
Louis Bonaparte
Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (born Luigi Buonaparte; 2 September 1778 – 25 July 1846) was a younger brother of Napoleon I, Emperor of the French. He was a monarch in his own right from 1806 to 1810, ruling over the Kingdom of Holland (a French cl ...
personally visited the city to provide assistance to the victims. Although located in the centre of the city, the area destroyed remained empty for many years. In 1886 the space was turned into a public park, the Van der Werff park.
In 1842, the railroad from Leiden to
Haarlem
Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English) is a city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Holland. Haarlem is situated at the northern edge of the Randstad, one of the most populated metropoli ...
was inaugurated and one year later the railway to
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
(Den Haag) was completed, resulting in some social and economic improvement. Perhaps the most important piece of Dutch history contributed by Leiden was the
Constitution of the Netherlands
The Constitution for the Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Grondwet voor het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden) is one of two fundamental documents governing the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as the fundamental law of the European territory of the ...
.
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke
Johan Rudolph Thorbecke (14 January 1798 – 4 June 1872) was a Dutch liberal statesman, one of the most important Dutch politicians of the 19th century. Thorbecke is best known for heading the commission that drafted the revision of the Consti ...
(1798–1872) wrote the Dutch Constitution in April 1848 in his house at Garenmarkt 9 in Leiden.
Leiden's reputation as the "city of books" continued through the 19th century with the establishment of publishing dynasties by
Evert Jan Brill
Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ...
and
Albertus Willem Sijthoff
Albertus Willem Sijthoff (30 June 1829 – 29 July 1913) was a prominent Dutch publisher from Leiden, Netherlands.
Early life
Sijthoff was born in 1829 to an established family in Leiden. He was educated at the Stedelijk Gymnasium in Leiden, whi ...
. Sijthoff, who rose to prominence in the trade of translated books, wrote a letter in 1899 to
Queen Wilhelmina
Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...
regarding his opposition to becoming a signatory to the
Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, usually known as the Berne Convention, was an international assembly held in 1886 in the Swiss city of Bern by ten European countries with the goal to agree on a set of l ...
. He felt that international copyright restrictions would stifle the Dutch publishing industry.
Leiden began to expand beyond its 17th-century moats around 1896 and the number of citizens surpassed 50,000 in 1900. After 1920, new industries were established in the city, such as the
canning
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...
and metal industries. During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Leiden was hit hard by Allied bombardments. The areas surrounding the railway station and Marewijk were almost completely destroyed.
The University of Leiden is famous for its many discoveries including
Snell's law
Snell's law (also known as Snell–Descartes law and ibn-Sahl law and the law of refraction) is a formula used to describe the relationship between the angles of incidence and refraction, when referring to light or other waves passing through ...
(by
Willebrord Snellius
Willebrord Snellius (born Willebrord Snel van Royen) (13 June 158030 October 1626) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, Snell. His name is usually associated with the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law.
The lunar crater Sn ...
) and
the famous
Leyden jar
A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typi ...
, a capacitor made from a glass jar, invented in Leiden by
Pieter van Musschenbroek
Pieter van Musschenbroek (14 March 1692 – 19 September 1761) was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden, where he held positions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and astronomy. He is credited with the inven ...
in 1746. Another development was in
cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
:
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He exploited the Hampson–Linde cycle to investigate how materials behave when cooled to nearly absolute zero and later to liquefy helium f ...
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
for the first time (1908) and later managed to reach a temperature of less than one degree above the absolute minimum.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
also spent some time at Leiden University during his early to middle career.
Leiden today
The city's biggest and most popular annual festival is celebrated on 3 October and is called simply 3 Oktober. The people of Leiden celebrate the end of the Spanish siege of 1574. It typically takes place over the course of two to three days and includes parades, a
hutspot
''Hutspot'' (Dutch), ''hochepot'' (French), or hotchpotch (English), is a dish of boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots, and onions with a long history in traditional Dutch cuisine. Hutspot is also found in the Indonesian cuisine due to their c ...
feast, historical reenactments, a funfair and other events. Since 2006, the city has also hosted the annual
Leiden International Film Festival
The Leiden International Film Festival (LIFF) is a film festival based in the Netherlands. The Leiden International Film Festival was founded in 2006 by Alexander Mouret, Michaël Roumen, Michel Zorge, Wouter de Bres and Job Zeestraten. The fes ...
.
Leiden has important functions as a shopping and trade centre for communities around the city.
The city also houses the
Eurotransplant
The Eurotransplant International Foundation, commonly known simply as Eurotransplant, is an international non-profit organization responsible for encouraging and coordinating organ transplants in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Luxem ...
, the international organization responsible for the mediation and allocation of
organ donation
Organ donation is the process when a person allows an organ of their own to be removed and transplanted to another person, legally, either by consent while the donor is alive or dead with the assent of the next of kin.
Donation may be for re ...
procedures in Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia. Leiden also houses the headquarters of
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
, a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide. The group includes
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
, the leading manufacturer of commercial aircraft worldwide.
Rivers, canals and parks
The two branches of the Oude Rijn, which enter Leiden on the east, unite in the centre of the city. The city is further intersected by numerous small
canal
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...
s with tree-bordered
quay
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring location ...
s. On the west side of the city, the Hortus Botanicus and other gardens extend along the old ''
Singel
The Singel is one of the canals of Amsterdam. The Singel encircled Amsterdam in the Middle Ages, serving as a moat around the city until 1585, when Amsterdam expanded beyond the Singel. The canal runs from the IJ (Amsterdam), IJ bay, near the ...
'', or outer canal. The
Leidse Hout
The Leidse Hout (English: Leiden Woods) is a public urban park in Leiden, Netherlands. It is located between the border of Oegstgeest, approximately 1.5 kilometers northwest of the Leiden city center, and on the northern border of the Leiden Diac ...
park, which contains a small deer park, lies on the northwest border with
Oegstgeest
Oegstgeest () is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was in .
Etymology
The portion ''geest'' in the name refers to the geest lands, which were excavated in the seventeenth cent ...
. The ''Van der Werf Park'' is named after the mayor , who defended the city against the Spaniards in 1574. The city was beleaguered for months and many died from famine. The open space for the park was formed by the accidental explosion of a ship loaded with
gunpowder
Gunpowder, also commonly known as black powder to distinguish it from modern smokeless powder, is the earliest known chemical explosive. It consists of a mixture of sulfur, carbon (in the form of charcoal) and potassium nitrate (saltpeter). ...
in 1807, which destroyed hundreds of houses, including that of the Elsevier family of
printers
Printer may refer to:
Technology
* Printer (publishing), a person or a company
* Printer (computing), a hardware device
* Optical printer for motion picture films
People
* Nariman Printer ( fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist
* Jam ...
.
Buildings of interest
Because of the economic decline from the end of the 17th until the middle of the 19th century, much of the 16th- and 17th-century city centre is still intact. It is the second largest 17th-century town centre in the Netherlands, the largest being Amsterdam's city centre.
A hundred buildings in the centre are decorated with large murals of poetry, part of a wall poem project active from 1992, and still ongoing.
File:William Shakespeare - Sonnet XXX - Rapenburg 30, Leiden.JPG,
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
on a Leiden wall
File:Langston Hughes - Danse Africaine - Nieuwe Rijn 46, Leiden.JPG,
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
on a Leiden wall
File:EecummingsLeidenWallPoem.jpg,
e.e. cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings, who was also known as E. E. Cummings, e. e. cummings and e e cummings (October 14, 1894 - September 3, 1962), was an American poet, painter, essayist, author and playwright. He wrote approximately 2,900 poems, two autobi ...
At the strategically important junction of the two arms of the Oude Rijn stands the old
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
''de Burcht'', a circular tower built on an earthen mound. The mound probably was a refuge against high water before a small wooden fortress was built on top of it in the 11th century. The citadel is a so-called
motte-and-bailey
A motte-and-bailey castle is a European fortification with a wooden or stone keep situated on a raised area of ground called a motte, accompanied by a walled courtyard, or bailey, surrounded by a protective ditch and palisade. Relatively easy to ...
castle. Of Leiden's old
city gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. It is a type of fortified gateway.
Uses
City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods ...
s only two are left, the '' Zijlpoort'' and the ''Morspoort'', both dating from the end of the 17th century. Apart from one small watch tower on the Singel nothing is left of the town's
city wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...
s. Another former
fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
is the ''Gravensteen''. Built as a
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
in the 13th century it has since served as house, library and prison. Presently it is one of the university's buildings.
Churches
The chief of Leiden's numerous churches are the
Hooglandse Kerk
The Hooglandse Kerk is a Gothic church in Leiden. Its earliest parts date back to the last quarter of the fourteenth century. Most of the current structure dates from the fifteenth century. The brick church was dedicated to St. Pancras and today ...
(or the church of St Pancras, built in the 15th century and containing a monument to Pieter Adriaansz. van der Werff) and the '' Pieterskerk'' (church of
St Peter
) (Simeon, Simon)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire
, death_date = Between AD 64–68
, death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire
, parents = John (or Jonah; Jona)
, occupation ...
(1315)) with monuments to
Scaliger
The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years.
History
Wh ...
,
Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...
and other famous scholars. From a historical perspective the
Marekerk
The Marekerk is a Protestant church in Leiden, located at the Lange Mare and the Oude Vest canal. The church can be easily seen from the Oude Vest and the Burcht van Leiden by its round dome.
History
The church was designed by the city architec ...
is interesting too. Arent van 's Gravesande designed that church in 1639. Other fine examples of his work in Leiden are in the ''
Stedelijk Museum De Lakenhal
Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of fine art and history in Leiden, Netherlands. One highlight is its collection of fijnschilder paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Just like the city, the museum combines a classical appearance with a contemp ...
'' (the municipal museum of fine arts), and the ''
Bibliotheca Thysiana
The Bibliotheca Thysiana was erected in 1655 to house the book collection of the lawyer Johannes Thysius (1621–1653). Upon his early death, he left a legacy of 20,000 guilders for the building of a public library ("tot publycque dienst der studi ...
''. The growing city needed another church and the
Marekerk
The Marekerk is a Protestant church in Leiden, located at the Lange Mare and the Oude Vest canal. The church can be easily seen from the Oude Vest and the Burcht van Leiden by its round dome.
History
The church was designed by the city architec ...
was the first Protestant church to be built in Leiden (and in Holland) after the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
. It is an example of
Dutch Classicism
Dutch Baroque architecture is a variety of Baroque architecture that flourished in the Dutch Republic and its colonies during the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. (Dutch painting during the period is covered by Dutch Golden Age painting).
Li ...
. In the drawings by Van 's Gravesande the
pulpit
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, access ...
is the centrepiece of the church. The pulpit is modelled after the one in the '' Nieuwe Kerk'' at Haarlem (designed by
Jacob van Campen
Jacob van Campen (2 February 1596 - 13 September 1657) was a Dutch artist and architect of the Dutch Golden Age, Golden Age.
Life
He was born into a wealthy family at Haarlem, and spent his youth in his home town. Being of noble birth and wit ...
). The building was first used in 1650, and is still in use. The Heilige Lodewijkkerk is first catholic church in Leiden that was built after the Reformation. This church was given to the Catholics after the gunpowder explosion in 1807, which killed 150 inhabitants and destroyed a large part of the city centre. The 'Waalse Kerk' (Breestraat 63) was originally part of the Katharina Hospital. In 1584 it became the church of Protestant refugees from the Southern Netherlands (Brugge) and France. Later churches in the centre include the
St. Joseph
Joseph (; el, Ἰωσήφ, translit=Ioséph) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. The Gospels also name some brothers ...
in
expressionistic
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
style.
University buildings
The city centre contains many buildings that are in use by the
University of Leiden
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...
. The ''Academy Building'' is housed in a former 16th-century
convent
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...
. Among the institutions connected with the university are the national institution for East Indian languages,
ethnology
Ethnology (from the grc-gre, ἔθνος, meaning 'nation') is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural anthropology, cultural, social anthropolo ...
and
geography
Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...
; the botanical gardens, founded in 1587; the
observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...
(1860); the museum of antiquities (''
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden
The (English: National Museum of Antiquities) is the national archaeological museum of the Netherlands, located in Leiden. It grew out of the collection of Leiden University and still closely co-operates with its Faculty of Archaeology. The ...
''); and the
ethnographical
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
SieboldHuis
Japan Museum SieboldHuis (Siebold House) is a museum located at the in Leiden, Netherlands. It displays items that were collected by Philipp Franz von Siebold (1796-1866) between 1823 and 1829 during his stay at Dejima, the Dutch trade colony n ...
''. The Bibliotheca Thysiana occupies an old
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
building of the year 1655. It is especially rich in legal works and
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
chronicles. Noteworthy are also the many special collections at
Leiden University Library
Leiden University Libraries is a library founded in 1575 in Leiden, Netherlands. It is regarded as a significant place in the development of European culture: it is a part of a small number of cultural centres that gave direction to the developme ...
among which those of the Society of Dutch Literature (1766) and the collection of casts and engravings. In recent years the university has built the Leiden Bio Science Park at the city's outskirts to accommodate the Science departments.
Other buildings
*Stadhuis (City Hall), a 16th-century building that was badly damaged by a fire in 1929 but has its Renaissance façade designed by
Lieven de Key
Lieven de Key (1560 – 17 July 1627) was a Dutch renaissance architect in the Netherlands, mostly known today for his works in Haarlem. His style is described by Simon Schama as Mannerist.
Biography
De Key was born in Ghent, and was already a w ...
still standing
*
Gemeenlandshuis van Rijnland
The Gemeenlandshuis van Rijnland on the Breestraat in Leiden is the oldest Gemeenlandshuis of the Netherlands that kept its function until the current century. Currently, it is still in use by the Hoogheemraadschap van Rijnland, but only for meet ...
weigh house
A weighhouse or weighing house is a public building at or within which goods are weighed. Most of these buildings were built before 1800, prior to the establishment of international standards for weights, and were often a large and representative ...
in
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
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
), built by
Pieter Post
Pieter Post in 1651. Portrait by Pieter Nolpe, detail of a larger work
Pieter Jansz Post (1 May 1608 – buried 8 May 1669) was a Dutch Golden Age architect, painter and printmaker.
Biography
Post was baptised in Haarlem, the son of a ...
*Gravensteen – a former 15th century jail at the ''Gerecht'' square (former court-house)
* Stedelijk Gymnasium (aka Latijnse School) – the old gymnasium (1599)
*Stadstimmerwerf – the city carpenter's yard and
wharf
A wharf, quay (, also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more berths (mooring locatio ...
(1612), both built by Lieven de Key (c. 1560–1627)
* Heilige Geest Weeshuis (a former ''Holy Spirit Orphanage'') – a complex of 16th century buildings.
* Molen de Valk – a corn-grinding windmill, now home to a museum (1743)
*Pesthuis, which was built during 1657–1661 at that time just outside the city for curing patients suffering the
bubonic plague
Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium (''Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as well a ...
. However, after it was built the feared disease did not occur in the Netherlands anymore so it was never used for its original purpose. The building has been used as a military hospital, prison, national asylum and army museum. Until 2019, it served as the entrance of
Naturalis
Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021.
Alth ...
. This museum, one of the largest natural history museums in the world, was recently renovated and is a building of interest in itself.
Naturalis Biodiversity Center
Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021.
Alt ...
Stedelijk Museum de Lakenhal
Museum De Lakenhal is the city museum of fine art and history in Leiden, Netherlands. One highlight is its collection of fijnschilder paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Just like the city, the museum combines a classical appearance with a contemp ...
Museum de Valk
De Valk is a tower mill and museum in Leiden, Netherlands.
The current tower mill is the third mill built at this location. In 1611 the post mill
The post mill is the earliest type of European windmill. Its defining feature is that the whole ...
*
Leiden American Pilgrim Museum
The Leiden American Pilgrim Museum is a small museum in the Dutch city of Leiden dedicated to the Pilgrim Fathers (or simply Pilgrims). These Separatists or English Dissenters were religious refugees who had fled England to Amsterdam in 1608 and ...
*
Corpus
Corpus is Latin for "body". It may refer to:
Linguistics
* Text corpus, in linguistics, a large and structured set of texts
* Speech corpus, in linguistics, a large set of speech audio files
* Corpus linguistics, a branch of linguistics
Music
* ...
(in Oegstgeest, but almost directly next to the border with Leiden)
*
Hortus Botanicus Leiden
The Hortus botanicus of Leiden is the oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands, and one of the oldest in the world. It is located in the southwestern part of the historical centre of the city, between the Academy building and the old Leiden Obs ...
Young Rembrandt Studio
Young may refer to:
* Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents
* Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood
Music
* The Young, an American roc ...
William II, Count of Holland
William II (February 1227 – 28 January 1256) was the Count of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, ...
(1228–1256)
Count of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...
1234-1256
*
Floris V, Count of Holland
Floris V (24 June 1254 – 27 June 1296) reigned as Count of Holland and Zeeland from 1256 until 1296. His life was documented in detail in the Rijmkroniek by Melis Stoke, his chronicler. He is credited with a mostly peaceful reign, modern ...
(1254–1296)
Count of Holland
The counts of Holland ruled over the County of Holland in the Low Countries between the 10th and the 16th century.
House of Holland
The first count of Holland, Dirk I, was the son or foster-son of Gerolf, Count in Frisia (Dijkstra suggests th ...
and
Zeeland
, nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge")
, anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem")
, image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg
, map_alt =
, m ...
1256–1296.
*
John of Leiden
John of Leiden (born Johan Beukelszoon; 2 February 1509 – 22 January 1536) was a Dutch Anabaptist leader. In 1533 he moved to Münster, capital of the Prince-Bishopric of Münster, where he became an influential prophet, turned the city into ...
(1509–1536) leader of the
Anabaptist
Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...
Münster Rebellion
Münster (; nds, Mönster) is an independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a state distr ...
* William Brewster (1568–1644) pilgrim, Mayflower passenger in 1620
*
Daniel Heinsius
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength"), ...
(1580–1655) a famous scholar of the
Dutch Renaissance
The Renaissance in the Low Countries was a cultural period in the Northern Renaissance that took place in around the 16th century in the Low Countries (corresponding to modern-day Belgium, the Netherlands and French Flanders).
Culture in the Low C ...
Plymouth Colony
Plymouth Colony (sometimes Plimouth) was, from 1620 to 1691, the British America, first permanent English colony in New England and the second permanent English colony in North America, after the Jamestown Colony. It was first settled by the pa ...
in Massachusetts
* Franciscus Junius (1591–1677) a pioneer of Germanic philology
* Isaac Elzevir (1596–1651) a Dutch publisher and printer, co-founder of
House of Elzevir
Elzevir is the name of a celebrated family of Dutch booksellers, publishers, and printers of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The duodecimo series of "Elzevirs" became very famous and very desirable among bibliophiles, who sought to obtain the ...
*
Love Brewster
Elder Love Brewster () was an early American settler, the son of Elder William Brewster and his wife, Mary Brewster. He traveled with his father, mother and brother, Wrestling, on the ''Mayflower'' reaching what became the Plymouth Colony in Mas ...
(1611–1650/1) pilgrim and founder of
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Bridgewater is a town located in Plymouth County, in the state of Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the town's population was 28,633. Bridgewater is located approximately south of Boston and approximately 35 miles east ...
*
Isaac Vossius
Isaak Vossius, sometimes anglicised Isaac Voss (1618 in Leiden – 21 February 1689 in Windsor, Berkshire) was a Dutch scholar and manuscript collector.
Life
He was the son of the humanist Gerhard Johann Vossius. Isaak formed what was accoun ...
(1618–1689) a scholar, manuscript collector and Canon at
Windsor Castle
Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire. It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British royal family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history.
The original cast ...
*
Nicolaas Heinsius the Elder
Nicolaas Heinsius the Elder ( la, Nicolaus Heinsius; 20 July 1620 – 7 October 1681) was a Dutch classical scholar, poet and diplomat. He travelled all over Europe to visit the major libraries and over time collected Europe's largest priva ...
(1620–1681) a Dutch classical scholar and poet
*
Johann Bachstrom
Jan Fryderyk or Johann Friedrich Bachstrom (24 December 1688, near Rawitsch, now Rawicz, Poland - June 1742, Nieswiez, now Nyasvizh, Belarus) was a writer, scientist and Lutheran theologian who spent the last decade of his life in Leiden. His surn ...
(1688–1742) writer, scientist and Lutheran theologian
* Gottfried, Freiherr van Swieten (1733-1803) diplomat, friend and patron of several great composers
*
Jan Bake
Jan Bake (1 September 1787 – 26 March 1864) was a Dutch philologist and critic. He was born in Leiden, and from 1817 to 1854 he was professor of Greek and Roman literature at the university.
His principal works are:-
*''Posidonii Rhodii Re ...
(1787–1864) a Dutch
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
and critic
*
Reinhart Dozy
Reinhart Pieter Anne Dozy (Leiden, Netherlands, 21 February 1820 – Leiden, 29 April 1883) was a Dutch scholar of French (Huguenot) origin, who was born in Leiden. He was an Orientalist scholar of Arabic language, history and literature.
Biogra ...
(1820–1883) a Dutch scholar of Arabic of Huguenot origin
*
Cornelis Tiele
Cornelis Petrus Tiele (16 December 183011 January 1902) was a Dutch theologian and scholar of religions.
Life
Tiele was born at Leiden. He was educated at Amsterdam, first studying at the Athenaeum Illustre, as the communal high school of the ...
(1830–1902) a Dutch theologian and scholar
*
J. P. B. de Josselin de Jong
Jan Petrus Benjamin de Josselin de Jong (13 March 1886 – 15 November 1964) was a founding father of modern Dutch anthropology and of structural anthropology at Leiden University.
Biography
In his early career, he was a museum curator. His area ...
(1886–1964) a museum curator, founding father of modern Dutch anthropology and
structural anthropology
Structural anthropology is a school of sociocultural anthropology based on Claude Lévi-Strauss' 1949 idea that immutable deep structures exist in all cultures, and consequently, that all cultural practices have homologous counterparts in other ...
and an academic
*
Hans de Koster
Henri Johan "Hans" de Koster (5 November 1914 – 24 November 1992) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and businessman.
De Koster attended a Gymnasium in Leiden from May 1927 until June 19 ...
(1914–1992) a Dutch politician, diplomat and businessman
*twins
Alfred Kossmann
Alfred Kossmann (31 January 1922 – 27 June 1998) was a Dutch poet and prose writer. Kossmann and his brother Ernst Kossmann, a distinguished Dutch historian, were twins.
Biography
Born in Leiden, Kossmann was the son of the erudite libraria ...
(1922–1998) a poet and prose writer & Ernst Kossmann (1922–2003) an historian.
*
Leendert Ginjaar
Leendert Ginjaar (28 May 1928 – 17 September 2003) was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and chemist.
Ginjaar attended a Gymnasium in Leiden from April 1940 until May 1946 and applied at the Leiden Uni ...
(1928–2003) a Dutch politician and chemist
*
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst
Laurens Jan Brinkhorst (born 18 March 1937) is a retired Dutch politician and diplomat of the Democrats 66 (D66) party and jurist.
Early life and education
Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst was born in the city of Zwolle. His parents were Marius Jacobus ...
(born 1937) a retired Dutch politician and diplomat
*
Ankie Broekers-Knol
Anneke "Ankie" Broekers-Knol (born 23 November 1946) is a Dutch politician and jurist who served as State Secretary for Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet from 11 June 2019 until 10 January 2022. She is a member of the People's Part ...
(born 1946) a Dutch politician, jurist and Minister
*
Carel Stolker
Carel Jan Jozef Marie Stolker (23 June 1954) is a Dutch academic administrator and the former rector magnificus and president of Leiden University from February 2013 to February 2021. He was the successor of Paul F. van der Heijden.rector magnificus
A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world the rector is often the most senior official in a un ...
and president of
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
from 2013 until 2021
*
Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands
Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands (née Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst; born 25 May 1966) is the wife of Prince Constantijn and sister-in-law of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima.
Early life
Petra Laurentien Brinkhorst was born in ...
(born 1966) the wife of
Prince Constantijn
Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands (''Constantijn Christof Frederik Aschwin''; born 11 October 1969) is the third and youngest son of the former Dutch queen, Beatrix, and her husband, Claus von Amsberg, and is the younger brother of the reig ...
*
Kajsa Ollongren
Jkvr. Karin Hildur "Kajsa" Ollongren (; ; born 28 May 1967) is a Dutch politician serving as the Netherlands' Minister of Defence since 10 January 2022. A member of the Democrats 66 (D66), she previously served as Minister of the Interior and ...
(born 1967) a Dutch-Swedish politician,
Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
The deputy prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Viceminister-president van Nederland) is the official deputy of the head of government of the Netherlands. In the absence of the prime minister of the Netherlands the deputy prime minister takes ...
Cornelis Engebrechtsz.
Cornelis Engebrechtsz., also known as Cornelis Engelbrechtsz. (c.1462–1527) was an early Dutch painter. He was born and died in Leiden, and is considered the first important painter from that city.
(ca.1462–1527) an early Dutch painter
* Lucas van Leyden (1494–1533) a Dutch painter and printmaker in engraving and woodcut
*
Jan van Goyen
Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapesm marines, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscape, cityscap ...
(1596–1656) a Dutch landscape painter
*
Justus van Egmont
Justus van Egmont or Joost van Egmont (1601 – 8 January 1674) was a painter and a tapestry designer during the 17th century.Rembrandt van Rijn
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
(1606– 1669) a Dutch draughtsman, painter and printmaker
*
Willem van de Velde the Elder
Willem van de Velde the Elder (1610/11 – 13 December 1693) was a Dutch Golden Age seascape painter, who produced many precise drawings of ships and ink paintings of fleets, but later learned to use oil paints like his son.
Biography
W ...
(1610/11–1693) a
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
seascape painter
*
Frans Post
Frans Janszoon Post (17 November 1612 – 17 February 1680) was a painter during the Dutch Golden Age. He was the first European artist to paint landscapes of the Americas, during and after the period of Dutch Brazil In 1636 he traveled to ...
(1612–1680) a
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
painter
*
Gerard Dou
Gerrit Dou (7 April 1613 – 9 February 1675), also known as Gerard Douw or Dow, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, whose small, highly polished paintings are typical of the Leiden fijnschilders. He specialised in genre scenes and is noted for his ' ...
(1613–1675) a
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
painter
*
Jan Steen
Jan Havickszoon Steen (c. 1626 – buried 3 February 1679) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, one of the leading genre painters of the 17th century. His works are known for their psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour.
Life ...
(ca.1626–1679) a
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
genre painter
*
Gabriel Metsu
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር ...
(1629–1667) painter of history paintings, still life, portraits and genre works
*
Willem van de Velde the Younger
Willem van de Velde the Younger (18 December 1633 (baptised)6 April 1707) was a Dutch Republic, Dutch marine painter, the son of Willem van de Velde the Elder, who also specialised in maritime art. His brother, Adriaen van de Velde, was a landsc ...
(1633-1707) a Dutch marine painter
*
Frans van Mieris the Elder
Frans van Mieris the Elder (16 April 163512 March 1681), was a Dutch Golden Age genre and portrait painter. The leading member of a Leiden family of painters, his sons Jan (1660–1690) and Willem (1662–1747) and his grandson Frans van Mieris t ...
(1635–1681) a
Dutch Golden Age
The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...
genre and portrait painter
*
Jan Gaykema Jacobsz.
Jan Gaykema Jacobsz. (11 March 1798 – 16 July 1875) was a Dutch Painting, painter, drawing, draughtsman and botanical illustrator.
Birth
Jan Gaykema Jacobsz. was born at the Wagenweg, in a part of the village of Heemstede that would be annexe ...
(1798–1875) a Dutch painter, draughtsman and botanical illustrator
*
Jan Elias Kikkert
Jan Elias Kikkert (24 June 1843, Amsterdam – 11 April 1925, Leiden) was a Dutch lithographer and watercolorist, best known for his street scenes of Leiden.
Biography
His mother was unmarried at the time of his birth and the name of his fat ...
(1843–1925) a Dutch lithographer and watercolorist of street scenes of Leiden
*
Coenraad V. Bos
Coenraad Valentijn Bos (7 December 1875 - 5 August 1955) was a Dutch pianist, most notably as an accompanist to singers of lieder. His peers such as Gerald Moore considered him the doyen of accompanists in his day.
Life
He was born in Leiden ...
(1875–1955) a Dutch pianist, an accompanist to singers of
lieder
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...
*
Theo van Doesburg
Theo van Doesburg (, 30 August 1883 – 7 March 1931) was a Dutch artist, who practiced painting, writing, poetry and architecture. He is best known as the founder and leader of De Stijl. He was married to artist, pianist and choreographer Nelly ...
(1883–1931) a Dutch artist, founder and leader of
De Stijl
''De Stijl'' (; ), Dutch for "The Style", also known as Neoplasticism, was a Dutch art movement founded in 1917 in Leiden. De Stijl consisted of artists and architects. In a more narrow sense, the term ''De Stijl'' is used to refer to a body o ...
*
Ernst Winar
Ernst Winar (3 September 1894 – 28 June 1978) was a Dutch actor and film director. He appeared in 34 films between 1916 and 1955. He also directed 14 films between 1922 and 1955. In 1920 he published ''Peccavi...???'', a then-scandalous n ...
(1894–1978) a Dutch actor and film director
*
Nina Foch
Nina Foch ( ; born Nina Consuelo Maud Fock; April 20, 1924 – December 5, 2008) was a Dutch-born American actress who later became an instructor. Her career spanned six decades, consisting of over 50 feature films and over 100 television appea ...
(1924–2008) a Dutch American actress and drama teacher
*
Michel Waisvisz
Michel Waisvisz ( ; 8 July 1949, Leiden – 18 June 2008, Amsterdam) was a Dutch composer, performer and inventor of experimental electronic musical instruments. He was the artistic director of STEIM in Amsterdam from 1981, where he collaborated ...
(1949–2008) a Dutch composer, performer, inventor of experimental electronic musical instruments and artistic director of
STEIM STEIM (STudio for Electro Instrumental Music) was a center for research and development of new musical instruments in the electronic performing arts, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Beginning in the 1970's, STEIM became known as a pioneering cen ...
1981-2008
*
Leoni Jansen
Leoni Jansen (born 18 September 1955) is a Dutch singer who performs American folk music and Celtic music
Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern E ...
(born 1955) a TV personality and anchor-woman, singer and stage-director
*
Daniel Reuss
Daniel Reuss (born 2 July 1961, in Leiden)Biography at allmusic.com. is a Isa Hoes
Isa Hoes (; born 13 June 1967) is a Dutch actress. She is best known for her role as Myriam van der Pol in the ongoing Dutch soap opera ''Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden''.
Biography
Isa Hoes was born on 13 June 1967 in Leiden in the Netherlands. Sh ...
(born 1967) a Dutch actress and voice actress
*
Eva Dorrepaal
Eva Dorrepaal (born 17 October 1970) is a Dutch actress. She appeared in more than forty films since 1993. On a number of films Dorrepaal collaborated with director Edwin Brienen.
She won the Best Ensemble Cast award at Marina del Rey Film Festi ...
(born 1970) a Dutch actress
*
Armin van Buuren
Armin Jozef Jacobus Daniël van Buuren ( , ; born 25 December 1976) is a Dutch DJ and record producer from Leiden, South Holland. Since 2001, he has hosted ''A State of Trance'' (ASOT), a weekly radio show, which is broadcast to nearly 40&nbs ...
(born 1976) a Dutch DJ, record producer and remixer
*
Carice van Houten
Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film '' Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, she ...
(born 1976) a Dutch actress and singer
*
Dyro
Jordy van Egmond (; born 22 April 1992), known professionally as Dyro (), is a Dutch DJ and EDM producer. Since 2010 he has released original singles and remixes on labels such as Revealed Recordings, Musical Freedom, and Def Jam, and has also ...
Rembert Dodoens
Rembert Dodoens (born Rembert Van Joenckema, 29 June 1517 – 10 March 1585) was a Flemish physician and botanist, also known under his Latinized name Rembertus Dodonaeus. He has been called the father of botany.
Life
Dodoens was born Rember ...
(1517–1585) botanist, died in Leiden
*
Charles de L'Écluse
Charles de l'Écluse, L'Escluse, or Carolus Clusius (19 February 1526 – 4 April 1609), seigneur de Watènes, was an Artois doctor and pioneering botanist, perhaps the most influential of all 16th-century scientific horticulturists.
Life
Clu ...
(1526–1609) botanist,
horticulturist
Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...
and director of
Hortus Botanicus Leiden
The Hortus botanicus of Leiden is the oldest botanical garden of the Netherlands, and one of the oldest in the world. It is located in the southwestern part of the historical centre of the city, between the Academy building and the old Leiden Obs ...
*
Ludolph van Ceulen
Ludolph van Ceulen (, ; 28 January 1540 – 31 December 1610) was a German-Dutch mathematician from Hildesheim. He emigrated to the Netherlands.
Biography
Van Ceulen moved to Delft most likely in 1576 to teach fencing and mathematics and in 159 ...
(1540–1610) mathematician, computed the number π, pi
*
Willebrord Snellius
Willebrord Snellius (born Willebrord Snel van Royen) (13 June 158030 October 1626) was a Dutch astronomer and mathematician, Snell. His name is usually associated with the law of refraction of light known as Snell's law.
The lunar crater Sn ...
(1580–1626) a Dutch astronomer and mathematician
*
Herman Boerhaave
Herman Boerhaave (, 31 December 1668 – 23 September 1738Underwood, E. Ashworth. "Boerhaave After Three Hundred Years." ''The British Medical Journal'' 4, no. 5634 (1968): 820–25. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20395297.) was a Dutch botanist, ...
(1668–1738) a botanist, chemist, Christian humanist and physician
*
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus
Bernhard Siegfried Albinus (originally Weiss; 24 February 16979 September 1770) was a German-born Dutch anatomist. He served a professor of medicine at the University of Leiden like his father Bernhard Albinus (1653–1721). He also published ...
(1697–1770) a German-born Dutch anatomist
*
Gerard van Swieten
Gerard van Swieten (7 May 1700 – 18 June 1772) was a Dutch physician who from 1745 was the personal physician of the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and transformed the Austrian health service and medical university education. He was the fa ...
(1700–1772) a Dutch physician, personal physician of
Maria Theresa
Maria Theresa Walburga Amalia Christina (german: Maria Theresia; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was ruler of the Habsburg dominions from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position ''suo jure'' (in her own right). ...
*
Petrus Camper
Petrus Camper FRS (11 May 1722 – 7 April 1789), was a Dutch physician, anatomist, physiologist, midwife, zoologist, anthropologist, palaeontologist and a naturalist in the Age of Enlightenment. He was one of the first to take an interest in ...
FRS (1722–1789) a Dutch physician, anatomist, physiologist, midwife, zoologist, anthropologist, palaeontologist and a naturalist
*
Philipp Franz von Siebold
Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German physician, botanist and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora (plants), flora and fauna (animals), fauna and the introduction of ...
(1796–1866) a German physician and botanist, studied Japanese flora and fauna
*
Johannes Diderik van der Waals
Johannes Diderik van der Waals (; 23 November 1837 – 8 March 1923) was a Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist famous for his pioneering work on the equation of state for gases and liquids. Van der Waals started his career as a sch ...
Hendrik Lorentz
Hendrik Antoon Lorentz (; 18 July 1853 – 4 February 1928) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Pieter Zeeman for the discovery and theoretical explanation of the Zeeman effect. He also derived the Lorentz t ...
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He exploited the Hampson–Linde cycle to investigate how materials behave when cooled to nearly absolute zero and later to liquefy helium f ...
Willem Einthoven
Willem Einthoven (21 May 1860 – 29 September 1927) was a Dutch doctor and physiologist. He invented the first practical electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) in 1895 and received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1924 for it ("for the di ...
(1860–1927) a Dutch physician and physiologist
*
Pieter Zeeman
Pieter Zeeman (; 25 May 1865 – 9 October 1943) was a Dutch physicist who shared the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physics with Hendrik Lorentz for his discovery of the Zeeman effect.
Childhood and youth
Pieter Zeeman was born in Zonnemaire, a small town ...
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
(1879–1955) lecturer/researcher at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
, variously between 1916 and 1930
*
Paul Ehrenfest
Paul Ehrenfest (18 January 1880 – 25 September 1933) was an Austrian theoretical physicist, who made major contributions to the field of statistical mechanics and its relations with quantum mechanics, including the theory of phase transition a ...
(1880–1933) an Austrian/Dutch
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experimen ...
, contributed to
statistical mechanics
In physics, statistical mechanics is a mathematical framework that applies statistical methods and probability theory to large assemblies of microscopic entities. It does not assume or postulate any natural laws, but explains the macroscopic be ...
*
Geertruida de Haas-Lorentz
Geertruida Luberta de Haas-Lorentz (20 November 1885 – 1973) was a Dutch physicist and the first to perform fluctuational analysis of electrons as Brownian particles. Consequently she is considered to be the first woman to work in electrical no ...
(1885–1973) a female Dutch physicist, worked on
Brownian motion
Brownian motion, or pedesis (from grc, πήδησις "leaping"), is the random motion of particles suspended in a medium (a liquid or a gas).
This pattern of motion typically consists of random fluctuations in a particle's position insi ...
Jan Oort
Jan Hendrik Oort ( or ; 28 April 1900 – 5 November 1992) was a Dutch astronomer who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and who was a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. His ''New York Times'' obituary ...
(1900–1992) a Dutch astronomer, pioneer in
radio astronomy
Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming f ...
*
Hendrik Casimir
Hendrik Brugt Gerhard Casimir (15 July 1909 – 4 May 2000) was a Dutch physicist best known for his research on the two-fluid model of superconductors (together with C. J. Gorter) in 1934 and the Casimir effect (together with D. Polder) in 19 ...
(1909–2000) a Dutch physicist
*
Ewine van Dishoeck
Ewine Fleur van Dishoeck (born 13 June 1955, in Leiden) is a Dutch astronomer and chemist. She is Professor of Molecular Astrophysics at Leiden Observatory, and served as the President of the International Astronomical Union (2018–2021) and a ...
Ariel Cabello
Ariel may refer to:
Film and television
*Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award
* ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki
* ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', 1989 and 1991 anime video series based on the novel series ...
(2014–Present) Born in Argentina in 1980, Physicist & Music Expert at Catawiki.com
Sport
*
Willem Slijkhuis
Willem Frederik "Wim" Slijkhuis (13 January 1923 – 28 June 2003) was a Dutch athlete. During his career that lasted from 1939 to 1954 he was a world's top middle distance runner, excelling in distances from 1500 to 5000 metres.
Slijkhuis began ...
(1923–2003) a Dutch middle-distance runner, won two bronze medals in the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...
*
Sandra Le Poole
Alexandra ("Sandra") Johanna Le Poole (born 20 October 1959) is a retired field hockey player from the Netherlands. She was part of the Dutch hockey teams that won the 1984 Summer Olympics, world championships in 1978, 1979, 1983 and 1986, and E ...
(born 1959) a retired field hockey player, team gold medallist at the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
*
Ronald Florijn
Ronald Florijn (born 21 April 1961) is a former rower from the Netherlands and two-time Olympic gold medallist.
Florijn won the gold medal in the men's double sculls at the 1988 Summer Olympics, alongside Nico Rienks. At the 1996 Summer Olympi ...
(born 1961) a former rower, twice team gold medallist, at the
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
and
1996 Summer Olympics
The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...
*
Carina Benninga
Carina Marguerite Benninga (born 18 August 1962 in Leiden) is a former Dutch field hockey player, who played 158 international matches for The Netherlands hockey team, in which she scored 25 goals. She was part of the gold medal ...
(born 1962) &
Taco van den Honert
Taco Hajo van den Honert (born 14 February 1966 in Leiden) is a former field hockey player from the Netherlands, who represented his native country in three consecutive Summer Olympics (1988, 1992 and 1996).
At his last appearance ...
(born 1966) former Dutch field hockey players, team gold medallist at the
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
and team bronze medallist at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
*
Alfons Groenendijk
Alfons Groenendijk (; born 17 May 1964) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current assistant coach of Antalyaspor.
Club career
During his career, Groenendijk played for ADO Den Haag, Roda JC, Ajax, Manchester City, Sparta Rotterd ...
(born 1964) a former footballer with 413 club caps and current manager
* Gerritjan Eggenkamp (born 1975) a Dutch rower, team silver medallist at the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...
*
Rodney Glunder
Rodney Glunder (born as ''Rodney Faverus'', March 1, 1975) is a retired Dutch professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and boxer, current actor, entrepreneur and bodybuilder. He has fought for M-1 Global, Cage Rage, K- ...
(born 1975) a retired kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and boxer
*
Tim de Cler
Tim de Cler (born 8 November 1978) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a left-back for Ajax, AZ, Feyenoord and AEK Larnaca.
Early life
De Cler is born and raised in Leiden, South Holland. In Leiden, he grew up in a neighbo ...
(born 1978) a Dutch former footballer with 361 club caps
*
Erik van den Doel
Erik van den Doel (born 15 May 1979), is a Dutch chess Grandmaster (GM) (1998), two-times European Team Chess Championship winner (2001, 2005).
Biography
In the 1990s and 2000s Erik van den Doel was one of the leading Dutch chess players. In ...
(born 1979) a Dutch chess Grandmaster
* Merel Witteveen (born 1985) a sailor, team silver medallist at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
Iefke van Belkum
Iefke van Belkum (born 22 July 1986 in Leiden) is a water polo player of the Netherlands who represents the Dutch national team in international competitions.
Van Belkum was part of the team that became 10th at the 2005 World Aquatics ...
(born 1986) Dutch water polo players, team gold medallist at the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
*
Gegard Mousasi
Gegard Mousasi (born 1 August 1985), is a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer, currently competing in Bellator MMA, where he is the former two-time Bellator Middleweight Champion. As of December 13, 2022, he is #10 in the Bellator MMA ...
(born 1985) a Dutch mixed martial artist and former kickboxer
*
Laurine van Riessen
Laurine van Riessen (born 10 August 1987) is a long track speed skater and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Track Team . She competed for the Netherlands at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver in the 500, 1000, and 1500 metres and wo ...
(born 1987) a long track speed skater and track cyclist, bronze medallist at the
2010 Winter Olympics
)''
, nations = 82
, athletes = 2,626
, events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines)
, opening = February 12, 2010
, closing = February 28, 2010
, opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean
, cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
* Kjeld Nuis (born 1989) a Dutch speed skater, world record holder and gold medallist at the
Chantal de Ridder
Chantal Alida Maria de Ridder (born 19 January 1989) is a Dutch football striker, who plays for BeNe League club AFC Ajax as well as the senior Netherlands women's national football team.
Club career
Before signing for Ajax in January 2013, D ...
(born 1989) a Dutch football striker, 46 caps with the
Netherlands women's national football team
The Netherlands women's national football team ( nl, Nederlands vrouwenvoetbalelftal) is directed by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB), which is a member of UEFA and FIFA.
In 1971, the team played the first women's international foo ...
*
Esmee Visser
Esmee Michelle Visser (; born 26 January 1996) is a Dutch speed skater and Olympic Champion, who specialises in long distances.
Born in Leiden, she qualified for the 5000 metres at the 2018 Winter Olympics in December 2017. At the 2018 European ...
(born 1996) a long-distance speed skater, gold medallist in the
* Maria Swanenburg (1839–1915) a Dutch serial killer, murdered at least 27 people and suspected of killing more than 90
*
Aemilianus van Heel
Johannes Wilhelm van Heel (8 June 1907 – 8 October 1938), later known as Father Aemilianus van Heel, was a Franciscan friar from the Netherlands, who served as a missionary in China and died in the second Sino-Japanese War.
Biography
Van Heel wa ...
(1907–1938) a Franciscan friar who served as a missionary in China
*
Marinus van der Lubbe
Marinus van der Lubbe (13 January 1909 – 10 January 1934) was a Dutch communist who was tried, convicted, and executed by the Nazis for setting fire to the German Reichstag building on 27 February 1933. During his trial, the prosecution a ...
(1909–1934) executed for the
Reichstag fire
The Reichstag fire (german: Reichstagsbrand, ) was an arson attack on the Reichstag building, home of the German parliament in Berlin, on Monday 27 February 1933, precisely four weeks after Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was sworn in as Chancellor of ...
in Berlin in 1933
*
Buurtpoes Bledder
Buurtpoes Bledder ( 2011 – August 7, 2013) was a male domestic cat who attracted national media attention in the Netherlands after becoming a regular fixture at various businesses in Leiden's central district. His exploits became the subjec ...
(2011–2013) a male domestic cat, media star for his exploits in the city
*
Kirtie Ramdas
Kirtie Ramdas (born 1980 in Leiden) is a Dutch television presenter and actress of Indo-Surinamese descent and mostly known for her work for the Dutch TV show for the OHM and television presenter for for the NTR. Currently she is in a TV commer ...
(born 1980), Dutch television presenter and actress
*The coat of arms of Leiden is two red keys, crossed in an X-shape on a white background. These keys are the
Keys of Heaven
The Keys of Heaven, also called Saint Peter's keys, refers to the metaphorical keys of the office of Saint Peter, the keys of Heaven, or the keys of the kingdom of Heaven. It is explicitly referenced in the Bible in Matthew 16:19.
In Catholicis ...
held by St. Peter, for whom a large church in the city centre is named. Because of this coat of arms, Leiden is referred to as the ''"Sleutelstad"'' ("the key city").
*For a time Leiden held the title "The Coldest Place on Earth" because of the developments in
cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures.
The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...
in a laboratory there.
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes
Heike Kamerlingh Onnes (21 September 1853 – 21 February 1926) was a Dutch physicist and Nobel laureate. He exploited the Hampson–Linde cycle to investigate how materials behave when cooled to nearly absolute zero and later to liquefy helium f ...
(1913
Nobel prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...
winner in physics) liquefied
helium
Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...
for the first time (1908), and later managed to reach a temperature of less than one degree above
Absolute zero
Absolute zero is the lowest limit of the thermodynamic temperature scale, a state at which the enthalpy and entropy of a cooled ideal gas reach their minimum value, taken as zero kelvin. The fundamental particles of nature have minimum vibration ...
.
*The Norwegian cheese "
nøkkelost
Nøkkelost (Norwegian: "key cheese") is a common, Norwegian name for kuminost ("cumin cheese"), a cheese flavored with cumin and cloves. It is semi-hard, yellow, and made from cow's milk, in the shape of wheels or blocks, with a maturation period ...
" ("key cheese") is named after the keys in coat of arms of Leyden, as it is a variation of
Leyden cheese
Leyden, from nl, Leidse kaas, is a semi-hard, cumin and caraway seed flavoured cheese made in the Netherlands from cow's milk. It is made both in factories and on farms, historically in the Leiden area.
''Leidse kaas'' is the most common ty ...
.
*The following places and things are named after this city:
**
Leyden, New York
Leyden is a town in Lewis County, New York, United States. The population was 1,785 at the 2010 census. The town is in the southern part of the county and is north of Rome.
History
Settlement began around 1794.
Leyden was formed from the town ...
, USA
**
Leyden, Massachusetts
Leyden is a New England town, town in Franklin County, Massachusetts, Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 734 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Springfield metropolitan area, Massachuset ...
, USA
**
Leyden Township, Cook County, Illinois
Leyden Township is one of 29 townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2010 census, its population was 92,890.
Geography
Leyden Township is located just northwest of the city of Chicago, an edge of which (a stretch of land connecting ...
, USA
**Leiden scale, for measuring extreme low temperatures.
**Factor V Leiden is named after the city of Leiden where it was discovered in 1994.
**The
Leyden jar
A Leyden jar (or Leiden jar, or archaically, sometimes Kleistian jar) is an electrical component that stores a high-voltage electric charge (from an external source) between electrical conductors on the inside and outside of a glass jar. It typi ...
, a capacitor made from a glass jar, was invented here by
Pieter van Musschenbroek
Pieter van Musschenbroek (14 March 1692 – 19 September 1761) was a Dutch scientist. He was a professor in Duisburg, Utrecht, and Leiden, where he held positions in mathematics, philosophy, medicine, and astronomy. He is credited with the inven ...
in 1746. It was actually first invented by Ewald Georg von Kleist the year before, but the name "Leyden jar" stuck.
*Leiden's ''Stadhuis'' (Town Hall) has a poem in the form of a cryptogram on its façade that records the date 1574 in Roman numerals, the year of the "Black Famine" or Spanish siege (W equals two Vs):
(Dutch: "When the Black Famine had brought to the death nearly six thousand persons, then God the Lord repented, and gave bread again as much as we could wish".)
Sports
*Zorg en Zekerheid Leiden is the basketball club of Leiden. In 2011, 2013 and 2021 they won the National Title, in 2010 and 2012 the National Cup and in 2011 and 2012 the National Super Cup. The club also played in the FIBA EuroChallenge and reached the Second Round (Best 16) in 2011/2012.
See also
*Leiden Classical A distributed computing project
*Oudt Leyden, former Michelin starred restaurant
*Wireless Leiden