Desiderius Erasmus was a Dutch scholar. He was born in 1466 at Rotterdam and died in 1536. His original name was Gerard, but this he changed according to a fashion of the time. After the death of his parents, when he was fourteenth years old, his guardians compelled him to enter a monastery; and at the age of seventeen he assumed the monastic habit. The Bishop of Cambray delivered him from this constraint. In 1492 he travelled to Paris to perfect himself in theology and polite literature. He there became the instructor of several rich Englishmen, from one of whom - LordMountjoy - he received a pension for life. He accompanied them to England in 1497, where he was graciously received by the king.
He returned soon after to the Continent, took his doctor's degree, was relieved from his monastic vows by dispensation from the pope, and published several of his works. He returned to England in 1510; wrote his Praise of Folly while residing with Sir Thomas More, and was appointed Margaret professor of divinity and Greek lecturer at Cambridge. In 1514 he returned to the Continent and lived chiefly at Basel, where he died in 1536.
To extensive learning Desiderius Erasmus joined a refined taste and a delicate wit. He rendered great and lasting service to the cause of reviving scholarship. Although he took no direct part in the Reformation, and was reproached by Luther for luke warmness, he attacked the disorders of monasticism and superstition, and everywhere promoted the cause of truth. He edited various classics, the first edition of the Greek Testament from manuscript (with Latin translation), etc, but his best-known books are the Encomium Moriae, or Praise of Folly, and his Colloquies. His letters are very valuable in reference to the history of that period. Research Desiderius Erasmus
George Blake (born George Behar) was a Dutch-born British KGB spy. He was born in 1922 at Rotterdam. After serving with the Dutch resistance he joined the British Royal Navy and in 1944 joined the SIS. In 1949 he was posted to South Korea and upon the outbreak of the Korean War was interned by the invading North Korean forces. In 1951 he defected to the Russians, and volunteered to work as a Soviet Spy, being assigned the KGB codename Diomid. Information supplied by Blake to the Soviets enabled them to eliminate the entire Western intelligence force in East Germany between 1953 and 1955. Blake also informed the Russians about the American CIA intercept tunnel built from West to East Germany, and designed to intercept Soviet communications - a tunnel which the CIA believed to be a success until the truth was revealed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union some forty years later. Blake was identified following information provided by the Polish defector Michal Goleniewski in 1961. Sentenced to forty-two years in jail, Blake escaped from Wormwood Scrubs prison after serving five years and travelled to East Berlin and from there to Moscow. Research George Blake
Jacobus Hendricus Van't Hoff was a Dutch chemist. He was born in 1852 at Rotterdam and died in 1911. Educated at Delft, Leiden, Bonn, and Paris, he graduated at Utrecht University in 1874. In 1878 he became professor of chemistry at Amsterdam , University, and in 1896 research professor of chemistry at the Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences, Berlin. Van't Hoff is chiefly known for the theory he formed that the graphic chemical formulae developed by Kekule must be extended in three-dimensional space to accord with the facts of organicchemistry. This theory laid the foundation of stereochemistry. Next followed a study of the laws of chemical equilibrium, which enabled the Stassfurt salt deposits to be worked to economic advantage. Van't Hoff was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1901. Research Jacobus Van't Hoff
Joseph Bosworth was an English philologist. He was born in 1790 in Derbyshire and died in 1876. He was ordained deacon in 1814, and after filling several livings in England was British chaplain at Amsterdam and Rotterdam for twelve years. He devoted much time to researches in Anglo-Saxon and its cognate dialects, the result of his studies appearing from time to time. His chief works are his Anglo-Saxon Grammar; Dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon Language; and Compendious Anglo-Saxon and English Dictionary. In 1857 he was presented to the rectory of Water Shelford, Buckingham, and next year was appointed Rawlinson Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. He was MA and LL.D. of Aberdeen; Ph.D. of Leyden, and D.D. of Cambridge. In 1867 he gave l 0,000 pounds sterling to establish a professorship of Anglo-Saxon at Cambridge. Research Joseph Bosworth
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher and critic. He was born in 1647 at Carlat, Languedoc and died in 1706. He studied at Toulouse, and was employed for some time as a private tutor at Geneva and Rouen. He went to Paris in 1674, and soon after was appointed professor of philosophy at Sedan. Six years after he removed to Rotterdam, where he filled a similar chair.
The appearance of a comet, in 1680, which occasioned an almost universal alarm, induced him to publish, in 1682, his Pensees Diverses sur la Comete, a work full of learning, in which he discussed various subjects of metaphysics, morals, theology, history, and politics. It was followed by his Critique Generale de l'Histoire du Calvinisme de Maimbourg. This work excited the jealousy of his colleague, the theologian Jurieu, and involved Bayle in many disputes. In 1684 he undertook a periodical work, Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, containing notices of new books in theology, philosophy, history, and general literature. This publication, which lasted for three years, added much to his reputation as a philosophical critic.
In 1693 Jurieu succeeded in inducing the magistrates of Rotterdam to remove Bayle from his office. He now devoted all his attention to the composition of his Dictionnaire Historique et Critique, which he first published in 1696, in two volumess. This work, much enlarged, has passed through many editions. It is a vast storehouse of facts, discussions, and opinions, and though it was publicly censured by the Rotterdam consistory for its frequent impurities, its pervading scepticism, and tacit atheism, it long remained a favourite book both with literary men and with men of the world. The articles in his dictionary, in themselves, are generally of little value, and serve only as a pretext for the notes, in which the author displays, at the same time, his learning and the power of his logic. The best editions are that of 1740, in four volumes, and that in sixteen volumes published in 1820-1824 at Paris. Research Pierre Bayle
Ward Bingley was a Dutch actor. He was born in 1755 at Rotterdam and died in 1818 at the Hague. He made his stage debut in 1799 at Amsterdam, and almost from the first took his place at the head of his profession, not only in the Dutch theatres, but also in those which performed French plays in Amsterdam and the Hague. Research Ward Bingley
A free port is a port, such as Bremerhaven, Gdansk, Rotterdam, or Singapore, that is free of customs duties. The area around the port, known as a foreign tradezone or free zone, specializes in entrepot trade, as goods can be landed and warehoused before re-export without the payment of customs duties. Ships of all nations may enter a free port on payment of a moderate toll, and load or unload. Goods not re-exported, may be admitted for home consumption on payment of the usual full customs of the country. Research Free Port
Abbreviations
Research Desiderius Erasmus
