450 Years of Leiden University: Honorary Doctorates

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. In 2025, the university celebrated its 450th anniversary. This blog is about honorary doctorates. In the past few months, I have already written 11 blogs about this anniversary year. They can all still be read via the link at the bottom of this blog.

Honorary doctorates

Regularly, but particularly at university lustrums, an honorary doctorate is awarded during the celebration of the university's Dies Natalis in the Pieterskerk on February 8. According to Article 49 of the doctoral regulations, the following are eligible:

persons who have conducted research that has proven to be of exceptional significance for scientific practice at the university or for science in general;
persons who have performed activities in a scientific, cultural or social sense that have advanced scientific education and research in an exceptional manner;
by very exceptional circumstances and exclusively upon the recommendation of the Rector Magnificus: persons who, through their activities, have contributed in an exceptional manner to upholding the university's motto, Praesidium Libertatis.

For those who want to know more about 'Praesidium Libertatis', bulwark of freedom: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/nieuws/2015/01/5-vragen-over-onze-lijfspreuk-praesidium-libertatis Honorary doctorates based on the second and third criteria are rare. Based on the second criterion, an honorary doctorate was awarded to Gerrit Komrij on February 8, 2000. On February 8, 2011, an honorary doctorate was awarded to Peter van Straaten for the societal significance of his work and the contribution his cartoons make to education. On the last ground as well, an honorary doctorate has been awarded only twice so far (2011):

March 13, 1999: to Nelson Mandela;

The Netherlands (2005): 25 years of Queen Beatrix (1980 – 2005). Third stamp: Mandela and Beatrix.

February 8, 2005: to Queen Beatrix, for the way in which she has repeatedly raised the importance of freedom.

Even before the establishment of these regulations, the motto Praesidium Libertatis was already used as a reason for the honorary doctorate, among other things:

February 8, 1925: to Queen Wilhelmina;

(At an auction in Roermond (2022), a record amount was paid for two stamps bearing the image of Queen Wilhelmina. A total of 530.000 euros was paid for the so-called 5-cent reversible print. Queen Wilhelmina is depicted wearing a fur collar on the red stamps. The auctioned pair of reversible prints dates from 1924 and is, as far as is known, one of only two copies in private hands. The pair was found in the estate of a well-known collector. A number of passionate and wealthy Dutch collectors decided to bid on the stamps, causing the price to rise significantly. A reversible print, also known as a tête-bêche, is a combination of two stamps where one stamp is upside down relative to the other.)