List of people from Leeuwarden

This is a chronological list of the most notable people from Leeuwarden, who were either born and raised there or were long-term residents. For a more extensive, alphabetical list see People from Leeuwarden.

See also List of mayors of Leeuwarden

Born in Leeuwarden

15th century

Wijerd Jelckama (c. 1490–1523), military commander
Hendrik Niehoff (1495–c. 1561), pipe organ maker

16th century

Obbe Philips (c. 1500–1568), anabaptist
Dirk Philips (1504–1568), anabaptist and theologian
Hans Vredeman de Vries (1527–c. 1607), architect, painter, and engineer
Johannes Basius (c. 1540–1596), lawyer
Dominicus Arumaeus (1579–1637), jurist
Pieter de Valck (1584–1624), painter
Wybrand de Geest (1592–1661), painter
Matthijs Harings (1593–1667), painter
Jeronimus Cornelisz (1598–1629), apothecary

17th century

Margaretha de Heer (1603–1665), painter
Douwe Juwes de Dowe (1608–1662), painter
Maerten Boelema de Stomme (1611–1644), painter
Saskia van Uylenburg (1612–1642), wife of the painter Rembrandt van Rijn
Abraham Lambertsz van den Tempel (1622–1672), painter
Wilhelmus à Brakel (1635–1711), minister
Wigerus Vitringa (1657–1725), painter
Campegius Vitringa (1659–1722), theologian
Siwart Haverkamp (1684–1742), classicist

18th century

Matthijs Accama (1702–1783), painter
Jacques-Georges Chauffepié (1702–1786), biographer, preacher
Douwe Sirtema van Grovestins (1710–1778), courtier and politician
Willem van Haren (1710–1768), poet
Princess Amalia of Nassau-Dietz (1710–1777), princess
William IV, Prince of Orange (1711–1751), stadtholder
Lodewijk Caspar Valckenaer (1715–1785), classical scholar
Rienk Jelgerhuis (1729–1806), painter
Joachim van Plettenberg (1739–1793), colonial governor
Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau (1743–1787), regent
Theodorus van Kooten (1749–1813), poet and politician
Johannes Jelgerhuis (1770–1836), painter and actor
Sybren Klazes Sybrandi (1772–1854), mennonite minister
Eelke Jelles Eelkema (1788–1839), painter
Wilhelmina van Idsinga (1788–1819), painter
Jacobus Schroeder van der Kolk (1797–1862), anatomist and physiologist

19th century

Charles William Meredith van de Velde (1818–1898), lieutenant-at-sea and painter
Julius Vitringa Coulon (1824–1878), politician
Christoffel Bisschop (1828-1904), painter
Willem Frederik Reinier Suringar (1832–1898), botanist
Piet Paaltjens (1835–1894), minister and romantic author
Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836–1912), knighted painter
Sierk Coolsma (1840–1926), missionary and writer
George Arnold Escher (1843–1939), civil engineer
Klaas Plantinga (1846–1922), distiller
Richard Bisschop (1849–1926), painter
Cornelis Adriaan Lobry van Troostenburg de Bruyn (1857–1904), chemist
Pieter Jelles Troelstra (1860–1930), politician
Dirk van Erp (1860–1933), artisan and metalsmith
Johannes Henricus Gerardus Jansen (1868–1936), archbishop
Max Dwinger (1870–1939), fencer
Theo Molkenboer (1871–1920), painter
Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde (1873–1937), gynaecologist
Folkert Posthuma (1874–1943), politician
Mata Hari (1876–1917), exotic dancer and courtesan, possible double agent
Gerhard Westermann (1880–1971), artist
Richard Hageman (1881–1966), conductor, pianist, composer, and actor
Max Blokzijl (1884-1946), singer and journalist
Hendrik Wouda (1885–1946), architect
Jacob Baart de la Faille (1886–1959), art critic
Arie Bijvoet (1891–1976), footballer
Bert Sas (1892–1948), military attaché
Ate Faber (1894–1962), fencer
Jeanne Bieruma Oosting (1898–1994), sculptor, engraver and painter
Sijtse Jansma (1898–1977), tug of war competitor
Jan Jacob Slauerhoff (1898–1936), poet and novelist
M. C. Escher (1898–1972), graphic artist