Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer

Kenau Simon Dochter Hasselaer (* 1526 in Haarlem, † 1588 Place of death unknown) has led the defense of the city by 300 women during the siege of the Dutch city of Haarlem.

At birth, her father, actually Brauer, Mayor of Haarlem. 1554 she married the shipbuilder Nanning Gerbrantsz, with whom she had three children. After the death of her husband (1562) she took over the management of his shipyard.

As Haarlem 1572-1573 was besieged by Spanish troops it is said 300 women have led in the defense of the walls of the city. Thus she became famous not only in Haarlem, but throughout the Netherlands.

After the city was finally conquered by the Spaniards they fled to Arnemuiden (Zeeland), but returned in 1578 back to Haarlem. On a trading trip to Norway in 1588 she is missing and allegedly died at the hands of pirates.

The moral judgment of this woman's life was more negative in the 19th century. In the Dutch language is therefore still denoted by the noun " Kenau " a virago.