Anne Zernike

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Portrait from 1916

Anne Zernike (born April 30, 1887 in Amsterdam , † March 6, 1972 in Amersfoort ) was a Mennonite theologian and first female pastor in the Netherlands .

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Zernike was born on April 30, 1887, the eldest of seven children of Carl Frederick August Zernike and Antje Dieperink. Her father Carl Frederick August worked as a school principal. Both her father and mother had studied mathematics and were involved in the church in the liberal Free Congregation ( Vrije Gemeente in Dutch ) in the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Anne Zernike decided to study theology while still at school and later enrolled in the Mennonite Theological Seminary at the University of Amsterdam . After completing her theology studies, she took over the pastoral position of the Mennonite congregation in Bovenknijpe in Frisia in 1911 . She became the first ordained pastor in the Netherlands. In 1915 she married the artist Jan Mankes , with whom she also felt intellectually connected. Both were staunch anti-militarists . In the same year Zernike gave up her work as a pastor and the couple first moved to The Hague and two years later to Eerbeek near Arnhem . In 1918 the couple had a son and Zernike completed her dissertation on historical materialism and social democratic ethics. Two years later, her husband Jan Mankes died of tuberculosis at the age of 30 . A short time later, Zernike became involved in the liberal-Protestant Free-radical Faith Community in Rotterdam, for whose congregation in Rotterdam-Vreewijk she remained active until her retirement in 1948. The free-thinking community consisted primarily of liberally oriented Reformed, Remonstrant, Mennonite and Lutheran. Under her chairmanship, numerous new members were won and in 1929 a separate church building called Der neue Bund (Dutch: Het Nieuwe Verbond ) was built. In addition to her work for the Liberals, Zernike was also active as a journalist throughout her life. She spent her last years at Amersfoort. In 1956 she published her memoir . She finally died on March 6, 1972. She was buried in her husband's grave in Eerbeek.

Theologically, Zernike represented a liberal Protestantism. It was particularly influenced by the representative of the radical Protestants Gustaaf Adolf van den Bergh van Eysinga. In 2011, Dutch Mennonites founded the Anne Zernike Fund to support women pastors. In Hoofddorp , Arnhem and Heerenveen streets are named after Anne Zernike. Some of Zernike's siblings also achieved greater prominence: their brother Frits Zernike received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1953, their sister Elisabeth became a well-known Dutch writer.

bibliography

  • Over historically materialistic en sociaal democratische ethiek. 1918.
  • A. Mankes-Zernike en RN Roland Holst: Jan Mankes. 1923.
  • Opportunity problems. 1924.
  • Rainer Maria Rilke : een benadering. 1925.
  • Het zwaluwenboek. 1928.
  • Historical gods services en universeele religion. 1938.
  • De Mensch en zijn godsdienst. 1941.
  • Een vrouw in het wondere ambt: herinneringen van een predikante. 1956.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ About the Anne Zernike Fund. Anne Zernike Fund, accessed July 4, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Zernike, Anne
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch Mennonite theologian
DATE OF BIRTH April 30, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1972
Place of death Amersfoort