{"id":82446,"date":"2018-01-13T09:30:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-13T08:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=82446"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:54","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:54","slug":"de-vurigste-bewonderaar-van-erasmus-20-jaar-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/01\/13\/de-vurigste-bewonderaar-van-erasmus-20-jaar-later\/","title":{"rendered":"Erasmus\u2019 most ardent admirer – 20 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regarding the fate of the fallen Erasmus<\/em><\/p>\n

In the night of 21 and 22 November of last year, the statue of Erasmus reading toppled over, sustaining some damage in the process. Its renovation is proving time-consuming; the humanist scholar was supposed to have been re-installed in June. Some students hope this delay will result in Erasmus\u2019 return coinciding with the university\u2019s 85th anniversary, which might make him more popular with the student population, which does not seem to care much about him at present.<\/p>\n

\u2013 EM issue no. 4, Volume 1, October 1997<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The Erasmus statue is still standing next tot he Laurenskerk (LW)<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Back in 1997, Matthijs den Hollander was described as a \u2018senior Business Administration student and the most ardent admirer of Desiderius Erasmus out of all EUR students\u2019. He remembers the toppled Erasmus statue like it was yesterday. The statue of Erasmus created by Hendrick de Keijser, near the Laurens Church, fell off its pedestal in late 1996. It was probably pulled down by vandals. Den Hollander used the delay experienced in the renovation of the statue to try and raise awareness of Erasmus\u2019 intellectual legacy. \u201cIt happened around Erasmus University\u2019s 85th anniversary celebration,\u201d he recently told EM. \u201cAnd I felt that a little more attention should be paid to Erasmus in this special anniversary year, on top of the university\u2019s name and signature.\u201d<\/p>\n\t

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EM has been around for twenty years now.<\/strong> During that period, we have featured many people, who have told us about their special achievements, excellent research and other interesting things. But who were these people who were featured by EM twenty years ago? How do they look back on this period, and how are they doing now?<\/p>\n\n\t<\/div>\n

\u201cI had just served on the board of the Department of Business Administration\u2019s study society, and I thought: the re-placement of Erasmus on his pedestal is an important occasion, but we \u2013 the students and the student societies \u2013 are hardly aware of the importance of his work. It would be wonderful if many students attended the re-installation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA friend and I borrowed gowns from the Registrar, and thus attired we gate-crashed a meeting of theanniversary celebration committee to make that point,\u201d Den Hollander says with a smile. \u201cWe wanted them to actively introduce students to Erasmus\u2019 intellectual legacy and the identity of Erasmus University.\u201d The committee took his words to heart. In addition, Den Hollander, in association with like-minded Erasmus fans, established the Ad Fontes foundation. \u201cWhen they re-installed the statue, there was a ceremony at the Laurens Church, which was attended by the boards of all student societies.\u201d The glass sculpture of Erasmus\u2019 face sitting in front of the E Building was likewise commissioned by the foundation established by Den Hollander.<\/p>\n

\"\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t<\/svg>\n\t\t<\/button>

The Erasmus statue is still standing next tot he Laurenskerk (LW)<\/span><\/p>

\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLevien Willemse<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Just like today, tradition dictated in 1997 that graduates pose next to \u2018Erasmus\u2019. At the time, there was only a replica of the statue, made of polystyrene, nicknamed \u2018that polystyrene thing\u2019 or \u2018the twit\u2019. The statue was binned in 2006, having become unpresentable because too many graduates picked at it. The two statues of Erasmus that are most likely to crop up in today\u2019s graduation photos have not been around for a very long time. The bronze replica of De Keijser\u2019s famous Erasmus sculpture was commissioned in China by an alumnus in 2008. The statue inside the Erasmus Building, which is officially called Desiderius Multiplex and was developed by the Rotterdam architect-and-artist Gerard Frishert at the Executive Board\u2019s behest, has been around since 2009.<\/p>\n

Den Hollander thinks it is great that the posing tradition still exists. But while he was \u2018Desiderius Erasmus\u2019s most ardent fan\u2019, he himself never got to pose with Erasmus, as he never completed his degree in Business Administration.<\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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