Maria van Antwerpen (1719–1781) was a

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 ...

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and

cross dresser Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself. Cross-dressing has play ...

. She is perhaps the most famous and well-documented example of a female cross dresser enlisting in the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

as a man. She is considered by the Dutch historians Rudolf Dekker and L.J.M. van de Pol as a

transsexual Transsexual people experience a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desire to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (including sex reassignment ...

woman.Rudolf Dekker and L.M.J. van de Pol,
Maria van Antwerpen, een transseksuele vrouw uit de achttiende eeuw?
in: ''Documentatieblad werkgroep Achttiende eeuw'' (1985), 103-117. Maria married twice to women. Two

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

were published about Maria in her own lifetime, one by Franciscus Lievens Kersteman in 1751.

Life

Van Antwerpen was born in

Breda Breda () is a city and municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. The name derived from ''brede Aa'' ('wide Aa' or 'broad Aa') and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. Breda has ...

, the daughter of a

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

. She was orphaned at thirteen and worked as a

servant A domestic worker or domestic servant is a person who works within the scope of a residence. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service ...

maid A maid, or housemaid or maidservant, is a female domestic worker. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work. In developed Western nations, full-time maids ...

until she was fired in the middle of winter in 1745. She enlisted in the military as ''Jan van Ant'' in 1746 and married the

sergeant Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...

daughter Johanna Cramers in 1748. Recognised by a former employer in 1751, she was put on trial for making a mockery of marriage and by entering an

illegal marriage Illegal, or unlawful, typically describes something that is explicitly prohibited by law, or is otherwise forbidden by a state or other governing body. Illegal may also refer to: Law * Violation of law * Crime, the practice of breaking the c ...

, and sentenced to exile from all

garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...

cities. She worked as a

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Nota ...

until 1762, when she married Cornelia Swartsenberg, pregnant after a rape, and enlisted again. A son was baptised with her as a father. In 1769, she was recognised by someone who knew her as a seamstress, and put on trial again. Cornelia fled and Maria was exiled to the area of Holland. She died in Breda at the age of 62.

Context

Other examples of Dutch women posing as men include Adriana la Noy, who served as a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

in the Dutch fleet during the first English–Dutch war when she was discovered in 1653, Aal de Dragonder (Aal the Dragoon), a woman who fought as a dragoon in the late 17th century, and an unnamed woman, also a soldier, who was discovered after having been killed in a fight with knives in 1710.

Sources

*Isa Edholm: ''Kvinnohistoria'', Alfabeta Bokförlag AB, Stockholm, Falun 2001. .
Antwerpen, Maria van
Instituut voor Nederlandse Geschiedenis *Rudolf Dekker & Lotte van de Pol. ''Vrouwen in mannenkleren; De geschiedenis van een tegendraadse traditie; Europa 1500-1800''. Amsterdam, Wereldbibliotheek, 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:van Antwerpen, Maria 1719 births 1781 deaths 18th-century Dutch military personnel Female wartime cross-dressers Dutch lesbians Lesbian military personnel People from Breda 18th-century Dutch LGBT people 18th-century Dutch women Women in 18th-century warfare Women in war in the Netherlands Same-sex marriage in the Netherlands

Life

Context

See also

Sources

References