Marie de Man

Marie de Man (born Maria Goverdina Antonia de Man, sometimes referred to as Marie G.A. de Man) (1855–1944) was a Dutch Zeeland numismatist, painter, draftsman, author and curator for the Royal Zeeland Society of Sciences. For many years, she was the only female member of the Royal Dutch Society for Coin and Medal Studies.

Biography Maria Goverdina Antonia de Man was born on 19 May 1855, in Middelburg to Dr. Jan Cornelis de Man and Neeltje Elisabeth Kamerman. She lived in the family home located on Lange Sint Pieterstraat for most of her life with her younger sister, Antoinette.

Marie de Man became deaf at a young age but was assisted by her sister for most of her life. Her father was a director of the Zeeland Society of Sciences and, inspired by him, she took an early interest in coins and medals. Their homeland in The Netherlands was a place that "had been inhabited since Roman times and where the Romans possessed an important base for their fleet, especially for trade with England. [It] is a rich site for coins, and particularly the beach of Domburg." She donated a large part of her personal Domburg finds to the Society.

In 1913, she wrote a book that explored the life and work of women in the Netherlands and its colonies, and she insisted that women had been important as society's medalists throughout the centuries.

According to one source, her love of coins lasted her whole life."However, her great love remained coins and tokens, particularly those of Zeeland. She published a separate study, 'Over Zeeuwsche loodjes' (1892), as a 'contribution to the numismatics of Zeeland'; in it, she described all the 'loodjes' known to her—that is, lead, but also copper or even silver coins that served as emergency money or proof of attendance, but which were usually melted down when they no longer needed to be used." In 1922, she sold much of her own historical collection to the Royal Coin Cabinet. Final years On 19 May 1925, her scientific merits were celebrated on the occasion of her seventieth birthday with a special edition of her study on the Middelburg die cutter and engraver Johannes Looff. A commemorative medal was presented, designed by Roline Wichers Wierdsma. On the back was the engraving, "Mariae Goverdinae Antoniae de Man, aetis LXX, anno MCMXXV."

Marie de Man died suddenly in Oegstgeest or Leiden on 15 September 1944.

Memberships

Honorary member of the Belgian Société Royale de Numismatique Corresponding member of the Numismatischer Verein in Dresden Member of the Royal Dutch Society for Coin and Medal Studies, founded in 1892 (only female member for many years) Royal Antiquarian Society (1898)

Selected publications On Zeeland lead tokens. Contribution to the numismatics of Zeeland (1892) What do we know about Dombourg Beach? (1899) Catalogue of the numismatic collection of the Zeeland Society of Sciences (1907) Some details about the gold and silversmiths' guild in Middelburg (1914) From the past of the Coin and Medal Cabinet of the Zeeland Society of Sciences (1919) The life and works of Johannes Looff, die cutter and engraver in Middelburg (1925)