Anna Bijns (1493–1575)

Anna Bijns was born in Antwerp, Belgium to a Flemish family. Her father was a tailor. Following his death, she opened a primary school in Antwerp with her brother Martin and wrote poetry in Dutch. She was one of the rare women of the 16th century to become a successful author and educator. She published her first work in 1528, which went through five editions and was translated into Latin. Two other published collections of her poems appeared in 1548 and 1567. Like Erasmus, she was among the first writers to owe their careers to the recent invention of the printing press. Although she wrote passionately about earthly love, she was highly critical of the institution of marriage.