Pieta van Beek

Pieta van Beek (born Rotterdam, 1958) is a researcher in Economic and Social History at the Department of History and Art History, Utrecht University. She has dedicated over three decades to researching women's intellectual history, with a special focus on Anna Maria van Schurman (1607-1678) and Ida Gerhardt. Her academic foundation includes studies in Dutch with minors in Swedish, Art History, Classics, and Oriental Studies at both Utrecht University and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, reflecting her transnational scholarly perspective.

Van Beek's research interests encompass:

• Women's History and Gender Studies
• 17th Century Dutch Intellectual History
• Anna Maria van Schurman Studies
• Ida Gerhardt Studies
• South African Women's Writing
• Women's Spirituality
• Historical Multilingualism

Her scholarly output reveals a consistent theme of recovering women's intellectual contributions throughout history. Van Beek's groundbreaking work established Anna Maria van Schurman as the first female university student in 1636, challenging traditional historical narratives about women's access to higher education. Her publications demonstrate how women scholars navigated intellectual spaces in historical contexts that often excluded them, with particular attention to linguistic abilities, religious contexts, and social networks.

Van Beek has made significant contributions to public scholarship through her columns. From 2013 to 2023, she wrote on women and spirituality for the Handreiking of the Dom Church in Utrecht, and since 2024 has continued this work with the 'Women's Voices' column for the Friesch Dagblad. In 2025, she launched the '(unknown) women' column for Volzin, maintaining her commitment to bringing overlooked women's stories to contemporary audiences.

Her leadership roles include chairing the Gerrit Achterberg Society and membership in the Society of Dutch Literature and the South African Academy for Science and Art. Van Beek's interdisciplinary approach bridges history, literature, art history, and gender studies to create a more complete picture of women's intellectual contributions across centuries and cultures.