Van Schurman was born in
Cologne, at the time part of the
Holy Roman Empire, a daughter of wealthy parents, Frederik van Schurman, from Antwerp (d. 1623) and Eva von Harff de Dreiborn. At four years old she could
read. When she was six, she had mastered creating highly intricate paper cut-outs that surpassed every other child's her age. At the age of ten, she learned embroidery in three hours. In some of her writings, she talks about how she invented the technique of
sculpting in wax, saying, "I had to discover many things which nobody was able to teach me." Her self-portrait wax sculpture was so lifelike, especially the necklace, that her friend, the Princess of Nassau, had to prick one with a pin just to be sure it was not real. Between 1613 and 1615, her family moved to
Utrecht, and about ten years later they moved again, this time to
Franeker in Friesland, where she lived in the
Martenahuis. From about 11 years old, Schurman was taught Latin and other subjects by her father along with his sons, an unusual decision at a time when girls in noble families were not generally tutored in the classics. To learn Latin she was given
Seneca to read by her father. The private education and self-study were complemented through correspondence and discussions with notables such as
André Rivet and
Friedrich Spanheim, both professors of
Leiden University, and the family's neighbour
Gisbertus Voetius, a professor at the
University of Utrecht. She excelled at
painting,
paper-cutting,
embroidery, and
wood carving. Another art form that she experimented with was
calligraphy, which she learned just from looking at a model-book. Once she mastered that, she invented styles that allowed her to write in many of the languages she knew. In the 1630s she studied engraving with
Magdalena van de Passe. Despite her playfulness and experimentation, Anna Maria was very serious about her art, and her contemporaries knew it. She herself said that she was "immensely gifted by God in the arts." In 1636 she became the first female student at the university, or at any Dutch university. Women at that time were not permitted to study at a university in Protestant Netherlands, and when she attended lectures she sat behind a screen or in a curtained booth so that the male students could not see her. At the university she studied Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldee, Syriac and Ethiopian. Schurman produced delicate engravings by using a diamond on glass, sculpture, wax modelling, and the carving of ivory and wood. She painted, especially portraits, becoming the first known Dutch painter to use
pastel in a portrait. She gained honorary admission to the
St. Luke Guild of painters in 1643, signalling public recognition of her art. Schurman corresponded with the Danish noblewoman
Birgitte Thott, who translated classical authors and religious writings. Thott's translation of
Seneca's philosophical works included a preface in which she argued for women's right to study. Thott stated that she translated classical works because few women were able to read Latin. Schurman publicly praised Thott and called her the "tenth Muse of the North". Schurman through correspondence established a network of learned women across Europe. She corresponded in Latin and Hebrew with
Dorothea Moore, in Greek with
Bathsua Makin, in French, Latin and Hebrew with
Marie de Gournay and , in Latin and French with
Elizabeth of Bohemia, and in Latin with
Queen Christina of Sweden. A frequent topic in this correspondence was the education of women. Schurman in the correspondence expressed her admiration for educated women like
Lady Jane Gray and
Queen Elizabeth I. An unauthorised version of Schurman's writings on women's education was published in 1638 in Paris under the title
Dissertatio De Ingenii Muliebris ad Doctrinam, & meliores Litteras aptitudine. As the unauthorised collection of her writings circulated, Schurman decided to publish an authoritative Latin treatise in 1641. In 1657 the treatise was published in English under the title
The Learned Maid or, Whether a Maid may be a Scholar. == The Labadists ==