Maria Leer (June 20, 1788 – July 3, 1866) was a prophetess and Dutch religious figure, one of the leaders of the '' Zwijndrechtse nieuwlichters'' ( Zwijndrecht New Lighters), a religious community with communist features which opposed social conventions. With

Stoffel Muller Stoffel Muller (1776 – 3 August 1833) was a Dutchman who led a small Protestant sect in the early nineteenth century. Known as the Zwijndrechtse nieuwlichters, the sect was later said to have had a communist ideology; it resisted civil government ...

, a barge skipper, she founded '' Zwijndrechtse nieuwlichters'', and along with assistance from Dirk Valk, a

Waddinxveen Waddinxveen () is a town and municipality along the Gouwe (river), Gouwe river in the western Netherlands in the province of South Holland near Gouda, South Holland, Gouda. The municipality had a population of in and covers an area of of which ...

bailiff A bailiff (from Middle English baillif, Old French ''baillis'', ''bail'' "custody") is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offi ...

Early years and education

Maria Leer was born in 1788 in Edam, the daughter of Pieter Jansse Leer (originally from

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

) and Anna Geertruy Gunthers (from

Quakenbrück Quakenbrück (Northern Low Saxon: ''Quokenbrügge'') is a town in the Osnabrück (district), district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the river Hase. It is part of the ''Samtgemeinde'' ("collective municipality") of Ar ...

), both German

Lutherans Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

. She was the fifth of six children, and her father and mother died when she was a child. She grew up in the orphanage for poor children in Edam and received some schooling to prepare her for a position as a domestic servant.

Career

She worked briefly as a maid with a Catholic family, but lost her position for trying to convert them. She later became a seamstress in

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 ...

, and there she came into contact with Stoffel Muller, a barge skipper. In 1816, they founded ''Zwijndrechtse nieuwlichters'' with the help of a Waddinxveen bailiff, Dirk Valk. The income-pooling community aimed to "revive the apostolic communism practiced at the beginning of the Christian era". With Muller, she engaged in a "spiritual marriage". The religion held property communally and refused to accept the authority of the civil government. While Muller was considered the group's leader, he was not formally appointed as such. The group earned a living by making and selling matchsticks and was thus nicknamed the "sulfur sticks faith." At the same time, they tried to spread their faith. Because they rejected civil government they frequently faced resistance from local government. Around 1820, that led to a prison sentence for Leer, who also spent a year in the women's prison in St. George Hospital in

Dordrecht Dordrecht (), historically known in English as Dordt (still colloquially used in Dutch, ) or Dort, is a city and municipality in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. It is the province's fifth-largest city after R ...

. In 1823, the brotherhood became more regulated, and Valk went his own way after that. In 1829, the group settled in Zwijndrecht, where they bought a shipyard and tried there to realize their ideals of a Christian commune. After the death of Muller in 1833, Leer tried to continue his work. But her radical views on freedom of marriage and the common property were shared by fewer and fewer members of the church. In 1843, the community was abolished and Leer moved in with her daughter Josina in

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. After Josina died in 1848, Leer found shelter with friends, and helped the sick and invalid with homemade medicine. In 1858, she moved to

Leiden Leiden (; in English and archaic Dutch also Leyden) is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. The municipality of Leiden has a population of 119,713, but the city forms one densely connected agglomeration wit ...

, where she ran a shop. From 1860, she lived in the Bethlehemhof in Leiden, where she was able to buy a house from the proceeds of the sale of the community's possession. A continued intellectual curiosity sustained her even after her banker lost her pension. At that time, she met the writer

Louise Sophie Blussé Louise Sophie Blussé (pen name, D.N. Anagrapheus; 12 January 1801 – 1 April 1896) was a Dutch writer. Born in Leiden in 1801, Blussé was the daughter of Abraham Blussé and Jeanne Petronella Maizonnet. Her father was an editor and school insp ...

, who chronicled Leer's memoirs and published them in 1892 under the pseudonym D.N. Anagrapheus. Leer died in July 1866 at the age of 78 from

cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...

in Leiden.

Early years and education

Career

References

Further reading