Willemijn Posthumus-van der Goot became the first woman in the Netherlands to earn a doctorate in economics when she completed her dissertation in 1930. Her academic work challenged prevailing government narratives regarding the economic utility of working women, establishing a career defined by rigorous statistical analysis and activism within the international women's movement.
Academic Foundation and Economic Research
Born in Pretoria in 1897, she moved from the Dutch East Indies to Switzerland before settling in Rotterdam. She enrolled at the Netherlands School of Commerce in 1920, joining the Rotterdam Female Students' Association. After graduating in 1926, she focused on cost-of-living indices, leading to her 1930 doctoral thesis. During the Great Depression, she faced systemic employment restrictions targeting married women, which prompted her to assist her husband, Nicolaas Wilhelmus Posthumus, with his economic history research while expanding her own feminist advocacy.
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In 1935, she co-founded the International Archives for the Women's Movement to address the lack of records documenting women’s contributions to society. Her work shifted toward media when she joined the Algemene Vereniging Radio Omroep in 1936, producing the program 'Een kort gesprek van vrouw tot vrouw' for sixteen years. By 1937, she organized campaigns against draft legislation intended to bar married women from paid employment, utilizing public protest to challenge government policy.
Resistance and Wartime Contributions
During the Nazi occupation, she and her family relocated from Noordwijk aan Zee to Leiden to engage in resistance activities. The household provided refuge to children, including Bep Koster, whom they sheltered for two years. Simultaneously, she worked to reorganize the International Archives for the Women's Movement, following the confiscation of its collections and the death of its other founders. This period cemented her commitment to both pacifism and the preservation of women's historical records.
Postwar Professional Legacy
Returning to Amsterdam after the war, she continued her radio broadcasting and authored 'Statistiek en werkelijkheid' in 1946. She edited the influential text 'Van moeder op dochter' alongside Anna de Waal to mark the transition of the Dutch throne. Her career included founding the International Association of Women in Radio in 1949 and establishing the International Scientific Institute for Feminine Interpretation. The Dutch government appointed her an officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau in 1982.
Fast facts
- Born: 1897, Pretoria
- Died: 1989, Amsterdam
- Citizenship: Kingdom of the Netherlands
- Education: Erasmus University Rotterdam
- Key Award: Righteous Among the Nations (2008)
- Professional Role: Economist and radio broadcaster
- Major Initiative: International Archives for the Women's Movement
Questions readers ask
What was the significance of her doctoral research?
It provided the first economic analysis in the Netherlands demonstrating that families with women working outside the home were more efficient than those where women were solely housewives.
Why was she named Righteous Among the Nations?
The Israeli government honored her in 2008 for her role in the Dutch resistance, specifically for sheltering children during the Nazi occupation.
Achievements
- Righteous Among the Nations — 2008
- Order of Orange-Nassau
- Worked as writer, women's rights activist and resistance fighter
- Educated at Erasmus University Rotterdam
