Colourful Characters: Ubbo Emmius

On 23 August 1614, the University of Groningen was founded. On 9 December this year, it will have been 400 years since Ubbo Emmius, the founder of the University, passed away. In his tracks, various people who worked and studied there through the centuries made the UG a brighter place. Some of them have been exceptionally important, due to their remarkable achievements, ideas, and activities. This series sheds a light on a number of these ‘Colourful Characters’. This week we start with Ubbo Emmius himself.

9 December 1625: Ubbo Emmius, the Rector Magnificus of the Groningen Academy, passes away

Ubbo Emmius’ original gravestone can be found in the foyer of the Academy Building and bears the following epitaph: ‘For the immortal memory of the renowned and pious old man Ubbo Emmius, a Frisian from Greetsiel, first Rector of the Academy, theologist of the pure doctrine, excellent philologist, perfect historian.’ His portrait can be seen hanging above the gravestone. The University and the city owe a lot to him.

How Ubbo Emmius ended up in Groningen

Please remind me of the historic details? In 1594, the city of Groningen joined the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands after Maurice, Prince of Orange, and the Frisian steward William Louis conquered the Spaniards. With the disappearance of the pro-Spanish administration, Catholicism was traded in for Protestantism. It was not illegal to have a different faith, but you were not allowed to practise your religion in public.

Prominent Protestant Groningen citizens who had fled to East Friesland to escape the Spaniards and the Catholic faith could safely return home. They were familiar with the person Ubbo Emmius, greatly appreciated him, and asked him to become Rector of the Latin school in Groningen. A Latin school served as the prior education for a university. In 1595, Emmius accepted their offer: that consisted of a high annual salary of 500 Emder guilders plus free housing and a shipment of peat!

The foundation of the University

The city of Groningen did not have a university at that time. Instead, people had to go to Leiden, Franeker, or abroad. That would soon change. In 1612, the States of the Groningen region decided to found a university. They asked Ubbo Emmius, 67 years old by now, to set up the Academy. He became the first Rector Magnificus and Professor of Greek and History. The Academy opened its doors on 23 August 1614, using a former monastery as the Academy Building. The start was successful with no less than 80 students in the first year, many of whom came from the area that is present-day Germany. Due to his extensive international network, Ubbo Emmius immediately gave the young Groningen University a significance that exceeded the regional image. The University trained the lawyers, civil servants, medical staff, and clergymen that the Groningen region needed but also offered all Calvinist students in the Netherlands and abroad a genuine alternative to Leiden and Franeker. Emmius also used his network to persuade professors to come to Groningen, such as his good friend Nicolaas Mulerius. Other professors who were there from the very beginning included Pijnacker, Ravensperger, Huninga, and Makdowell.

Work and person

Ubbo Emmius was a devoted and erudite historian and his academic production remained impressive up to a very high age. His most famous work is the ‘Rerum Frisicarum historia’. This 60-book series about the Frisian history was completed in 1616 and supplemented with a detailed map of East Friesland. Emmius was also a skilled cartographer! He had a calm and composed nature, but he could also be fierce and convinced he was in the right when it came to religious matters. In the political correspondence with male leaders of the time, Emmius developed into an advocate for the right of citizens to resist autocratic rulers. In his standard work ‘De universiteit van het Noorden’ [The University of the North], part one, Professor Klaas van Berkel concludes: ‘Even though he isn’t the actual founder of the University, it wouldn’t have become a success without him.’

Ubbo Emmius in the city of Groningen in the year 2025

Four hundred years after his passing, Ubbo Emmius is still very much present in the city of Groningen. Groningen has the Ubbo Emmius avenue and the Ubbo Emmius street, for example. The memorial window in the staircase of the Academy Building bears a large depiction of Ubbo Emmius, designed by the brothers Rudolf and Otto Linnemann from Frankfurt am Main. The auditorium of the Academy Building houses a bronze bust made by sculptor Bart van Hove in 1909. The monument on the Broerplein, with a beech tree at its centre that symbolizes the University and its branches of knowledge, is named after Ubbo Emmius.

Ubbo Emmius

• 1547: Born on 5 December in Greetsiel, East Friesland as the son of Emme Dyken and Elke Tjarda

• 1576: Went to Basel on foot to visit the grave of Desiderius Erasmus. He subsequently took a degree in Theology in Geneva where he became a Calvinist.

• 1579: Rector of the Latin school in Norden

• 1587: Rector of the Latin school in Leer

• 1595: Rector of the Latin school in Groningen
• 1614: First Rector Magnificus of the University in Groningen
• 1625: Ubbo Emmius passes away on 9 December