The Gymnasium Erasmianum is a school 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 ''"Ne ...

(also known under its Dutch name "Erasmiaans Gymnasium").

History

Founded in 1328, it is the second oldest school in the

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 ...

with recorded date of establishment (after the Johan de Witt-gymnasium in Dordrecht, established 1253). The privilege to found a Latin school was granted to the town of Rotterdam before Rotterdam received full city rights and therefore the school predates the birth of the city itself by nearly twenty years. It was renamed in 1842, after the famous Rotterdam theologian and humanist

Desiderius Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

(1466–1536). The school is more than a century older than its namesake, and it is unclear whether he attended it. The school was located at the corner of the Coolsingel and the Laurensstraat until 1937, nowadays C&A, a clothing store, is located at that place, and the school at the Wytemaweg. In May 1940, Rotterdam was heavily bombed by the German aggressor, but miraculously the building survived. During the war, the occupying German troops used the building as one of their headquarters.

Profile

In the Netherlands, there are several levels of secondary education, the highest being the vwo, pre-university secondary education. In the past decades, many schools have merged with schools of higher or lower levels to form wide-scope community schools. Some gymnasiums, such as the Gymnasium Erasmianum are among the few remaining high-level-only schools, and has managed to avoid merging because of its high number of students. Another special property of Gymnasia is that they offer compulsory classes in the ancient languages

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

. The school is widely known for its large number of students with non-Dutch roots. There are more students with non-Dutch roots at the Gymnasium Erasmianum than at any other Gymnasium in the Netherlands. The school serves 1,170 studentshttp://www.erasmiaans.nl/uploads/fckeditor/schoolgids0910.pdf (Dutch) and 80 teachers. The school's motto is "Ex Pluribus Unum", meaning "unity through diversity".

Notable people

Teachers

* J. H. Leopold, Dutch poet * H.B.G. Casimir, physicist *

Édouard Piaget Édouard Piaget (3 November 1817 in Les Bayards – 10 September 1910 in Couvet) was a Swiss entomologist who specialised in lice (''Phthiraptera''). Life As a young man, Piaget became a teacher of French at Mr. de Raedt's , an upper class ...

, Swiss entomologist

Students

* Gijs van Aardenne, politician * Harry Borghouts, Queen's Commissioner in the province North Holland *

Jacob Clay Jacob Clay () (January 18, 1882–December 31, 1955) was a prominent Dutch physicist who first suggested and provided evidence that cosmic rays are charged particles. Early life Clay was born "Jacob Claij" in Berkhout on 18 January 1882 as the s ...

, scientist * Daan Bovenberg, professional footballer * Edsger W. Dijkstra, computer scientist *

Robbert Dijkgraaf Robertus Henricus "Robbert" Dijkgraaf FRSE (Dutch: born 24 January 1960) is a Dutch theoretical physicist, mathematician and string theorist, and the current Minister of Education, Culture and Science in the Netherlands. From July 2012 unti ...

, scientist *

Ida Gerhardt Ida Gerhardt (11 May 1905, Gorinchem – 15 August 1997, Warnsveld) was a classicist and Dutch poet of a post-symbolist tradition. Life In her hometown Rotterdam Ida Gerhardt attended the Erasmus Gymnasium, where the poet J.H. Leopold was her C ...

, a student of Leopold and poet * Alfred Kossmann, poet and prose writer * E.H. Kossmann, historian *

Herman Johannes Lam Herman Johannes Lam (3 January 1892 in Veendam – 15 February 1977 in Leiden) was a Dutch botanist. Lam studied at Utrecht University, where he was awarded a Doctor of Biology in 1919. Lam was the appointed the director of the '' Rijksherbari ...

, botanist * Ramsey Nasr, poet and actor *

Jan Romein Jan Marius Romein (30 October 1893 – 16 July 1962) was a Dutch historian, journalist, literary scholar and professor of history at the University of Amsterdam. A Marxist and a student of Huizinga, Romein is remembered for his popularizing ...

, journalist and historian *

Ebru Umar Ebru Umar (; ; born 20 May 1970) is a Dutch columnist of Turkish descent. Under the influence of Theo van Gogh, she gave up a career in management and became a columnist, first for van Gogh's website and, after he was assassinated, as his success ...

, columnist *

Johan Witteveen Hendrikus Johannes "Johan" Witteveen (12 June 1921 – 23 April 2019) was a Dutch politician and economist who served as the fifth managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1973 to 1978. Witteveen attended the Gymnasium E ...

, economist, politician, and author

The RGB

The RGB (Rotterdamse Gymnasiasten Bond) is the school's society, organized by the students for the students. Every year the RGB organizes parties, theater, music and dance evenings and several cultural events. The RGB has its own anthem in Latin: :Vivat haec societas :Gaudium quae paret. :Semper floreat et crescat, :Longe et late clara fiat, :Vivat haec societas :Erasmi Alumnorum. :Vivant semper Socii :In sodalitate. :Vivant tutor et fautores, :Virgines et amatores, :Vivat haec societas :Erasmi Alumnorum Every year the students elect a new board for the Bond. Any senior student on the school can be elected. The board consists of several functions, with a Latin name: :Praeses; president :Quaestor; treasurer :Ab-actis; secretary :Vice-Praeses; vice-president :Cultus; organizer of cultural events :Sporticus; organizer of sport events :Assessor; creates posters, memberships cards, and event tickets

Other organizations

Other than the RGB, there are several active organizations on the Gymnasium Erasmianum, organised by the school's board, teachers and students alike. Some examples are; * De Tolle lege: the school's own newspaper. * Koinothrex: A group of students who arrange a camp for the first class once a year. * Debatingsociety Pro et Contra: The society organizes debates available to the whole school. Every year they go to several tournaments. * The GSA: The Gender and Sexuality Association is an organisation consisting of students that promotes freedom and outing of gender and sexuality within the school. * The LLR: The Leerlingenraad is an organization in which students are given the possibility to have a say in the decisions made at the school * The MR: the medezeggenschapsraad * Semper Floreat: a society for alumni * The Ouderraad: an organization which grants parents the possibility to make some changes to the school. * De Techniek: a group of students responsible for the technical support of events on school. * The Remix-Crew: A group of students that organize a musical event called 'Remix' twice a year

References

External links

*
Erasmiaans Gymnasium
official website {{Authority control 1328 establishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 14th century Gymnasiums in the Netherlands Schools in Rotterdam