Rudolph Snellius | |
|---|---|
 17th century portrait of Snellius | |
| Born | Rudolph Snel van Royen 5 October 1546 |
| Died | 2 March 1613(1613-03-02) (aged 66) |
| Spouse | Machteld Cornelisdochter |
| Children | Willebrord Snellius |
Rudolph Snel van Royen (5 October 1546 – 2 March 1613), Latinized asRudolphus Snellius, was aDutchlinguist andmathematician who held appointments at theUniversity of Marburg and theUniversity of Leiden. Snellius was an influence on some of the leading political and intellectual forces of theDutch Golden Age.
Rudolph Snel van Royen was born on 5 October 1546 inOudewater. Born to a wealthy family inEpiscopal principality of Utrecht while this province was under the dominion of theemperor Charles V, Rudolf Snel grew up in the city ofOudewater.
At maturity he left to study at theUniversity of Cologne underValentin Naboth and at theUniversity of Heidelberg underImmanuel Tremellius and soon received a teaching position at theUniversity of Marburg. Though trained inAristotelian logic, he had become impressed with the new logic ofPetrus Ramus, which he taught along with mathematics and languages at his university posts.[1]
In 1578, he returned to Oudewater soon after its devastation in aSpanish siege during theDutch Revolt. It was not long before he was offered, and accepted, a position as professor ofHebrew and mathematics at theUniversity of Leiden. That summer he married Machteld Cornelisdochter, who had survived the Oudewater massacre. She accompanied him to Leiden, where he taught until his death in 1613.[2] He was the father ofWillebrord Snellius (1580–1626).
Snellius died on 2 March 1613 and was buried in theGrote kerk in his hometown Oudewater.
While visitingUtrecht in 1575, he befriended the youngJacobus Arminius, then an impoverished student in Oudewater who would accompany him back to Marburg to take up his studies. Arminius, too, would return to Leiden to teach, and his theological doctrines would have an effect on theReformation in Holland and beyond.[3] Another student of Snellius, this time at Leiden, was the child prodigyHugo Grotius, who would not only become involved in the political battles surrounding Arminius, but would later establish himself as a founding political theorist of the early modern age.Jacob Dircksz de Graeff, who later became burgomaster of Amsterdam, lived in the house of Snellius while he was studying classical language at Leiden.[4]
His son Willebrord was the astronomer and mathematician who gave his name toSnell's law.
