450 Years of Leiden University: The Later Years
Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university has seven faculties (six in Leiden and one in The Hague), with 33.701 students enrolled in 2025. There is much to tell about Leiden University from various perspectives. In this second blog, the most important matters of the 20th century at Leiden University are outlined.
20e century
At the end of the 19th century, Leiden University once again became one of Europe's leading universities, particularly in the field of fundamental research in physics. In the world's first university low-temperature laboratory, the professor achieved Heike Kamerlingh Onnes a temperature of only one degree above absolute zero (–273 degrees Celsius). In 1908, he was the first to succeed in liquefying helium, and he also discovered the phenomenon of superconductivity in metals.
Kamerlingh Onnes received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913. Another Leiden professor who received this prize was (together with Pieter Zeeman of the University of Amsterdam) Hendrik Lorentz for the description and explanation of the Zeeman effect. The physiologist Willem Einthoven received the Nobel Prize for the invention of the string galvanometer, which, among other things, made the development of electrocardiography possible. In addition to these Nobel laureates, the physicists Albert Einstein and Paul Ehrenfest, Arabist and Islam expert Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje and legal scholar Cornelis van Vollenhoven of importance for the prestige of the university in the 20s.
On November 26, 1940, the professor held Rudolph Cleveringa, Dean of the Faculty of Law, delivered a fiery speech in the Academy Building to protest the dismissal of Jewish employees, including the jurist Eduard Meijers, the later founder of the new Civil Code. On the same day, Professor of Medicine Ton Barge dedicated his lecture to the untenability of racial theory. The students also went on strike. The university was subsequently closed by the occupying forces. It reopened in September 1945. To commemorate the speech, the university appoints a Cleveringa Professor every year. The Leiden University Fund (LUF) organizes the annual Cleveringa Lectures, which are held all over the world.
The name of the university was Rijksuniversiteit Leiden (RUL) until 1998. Subsequently, it was Universiteit Leiden.
Some key figures (2025): 7860 staff members, 31% female professors, 33.701 students, 16 Nobel Prize winners. To be continued..... With thanks to Frans Hemelop for his beautiful designs of Leiden personal stamps, which pass for works of art: https://hemelop.nl/
Thanks to Peter Janssen for the franking machine stamps. See www.frankeerstempel.nl for info.
Addendum: Randy mentions the protests by Cleveringa and van Holk against the dismissal of the Jewish employees of Leiden University. However, there was a third protest speech by a professor:
On November 26, 1940, Professor Van Holk also delivered a protest speech in response to the dismissal of his Jewish colleagues. Afterwards, he gave a lecture on Spinoza and the invaluable Jewish contribution to Dutch intellectual life. Just like Professors Cleveringa and Barge, he took an enormous risk that day by speaking out against these dismissals by the German occupier.
Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, better known by the nickname “Soldier of Orange”, also attended Leiden University.
In the musical, this is explored in great depth, and the story reveals the camaraderie, and hatred, of the Corsp. For those who haven't seen the musical yet: it is highly recommended. Even if you normally don't like musicals, like me.
And the 1977 film Soldier of Orange also tells a beautiful story, with the famous balcony scene from Erik's study, directly opposite the Academy Building. Rutger Houwer and Belinda Meuldijk played that scene, and standing outside was the (NSB member) Rijk de Gooyer.