From when Aletta Jacobs registered at the UG in 1871 to the professorship of Tine Tammes in 1919: there are countless stories to tell about women at the University of Groningen. The new UG city walking tour guide collates a number of these stories. T
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It was Thorbecke himself who, in 1871 in a letter to Mr Jacobs, announced that he agreed to allow his daughter Aletta to be the first woman to enrol at the University of Groningen. On 20 April of that year, Aletta Jacobs was the first woman in the Netherlands to register as a regular student at a university. On 20 April 2021, 150 years later, the UG will honour Aletta Jacobs by celebrating the start of the Aletta Year.
Jacobs initially received permission to study at the university for a one-year trial period. On his deathbed, however, Thorbecke also gave Jacobs permission to sit exams. In 1877 and 1878 she successfully passed her state examinations, becoming the first female doctor in the Netherlands. After obtaining her doctorate in 1879, she started working as a general practitioner in Amsterdam. With these achievements, Jacobs was the first woman in the Netherlands to complete a full academic degree at a Dutch university.