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Schurmann, Anna Maria von

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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a prominent disciple and supporter of Labadie (q.v.), was born at Cologne, Nov. 5, 1607, of Reformed parents. Persecution drove her parents in 1610 to the district of Juliers, whence the family removed to Franeker, and, after the death of her father, to Utrecht. Anna Maria was possessed of extraordinary intellectual qualities, which were further developed by careful training and instruction, so that she became familiarly acquainted with many ancient and modern languages — the Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Syriac, and Coptic — and was able to write letters in them all; was a proficient in mathematics and history; and was no less celebrated for her skill in the more ornamental branches of music, drawing, painting, carving, waxwork, and embroidery. Her attainments won for her the title of the Tenth Muse, the Celebrated Maid of Utrecht. The serious, pious temper, and the love for the word of God which she had manifested from her childhood, now gave way to vanity; but the influence of Labadie, whom she encountered when more than fifty years of age, led to a thorough conversion. She recalled all her writings, associated herself with Labadie in his home and life, defended him and his followers with her pen and supported them with her purse. A peculiar mystical relationship subsisted between her and Labadie, but no charge of improper conduct has ever been raised against her. After Labadie's death she retired to Wievert, in Friesland, where she died in 1678, after a protracted and painful illness. Her last work, entitled Eukleria, and containing a review of her life, its tendencies and results, was completed just before her end. See Gobel, Gesch. d. christl. Lebens, etc., p. 272-280, 783.