Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen

Hendrika Johanna van Leeuwen (1887 to 1974) was a Dutch theoretical physicist known for her early contributions to the theory of magnetism. She demonstrated that magnetism in matter can only be explained using quantum mechanics, and she was one of the first women to study physics at a university level in the Netherlands. She was born on 3 July 1887 in The Hague, the daughter of Pieter Eliza van Leeuwen and Maria Wilhelmina Schepman. She and her sister enrolled at The Hague Boys' School in 1901 when it began accepting female students, and she was also allowed to take the examination in Greek and Latin, a prerequisite for university studies. She studied under Hendrik Lorentz at Leiden University, beginning her doctoral work in 1914 and receiving her PhD in 1919.