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Barbara Ogier
Frontispiece of Verwellecominghe by Barbara Ogiers, a poem of circumstance, in honor of Maximilian-Emmanuel of Bavaria on the occasion of his visit to Antwerp
Born	Baptized on (1648-02-17)17 February 1648 Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands
Died	18 March 1729(1729-03-18) (aged 81) Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands
Nationality	Flemish
Occupation(s)	Playwright, poet

Barbara Ogier (baptized 17 February 1648 – 18 March 1720) was a Flemish playwright of De Olijftak, a chamber of rhetoric in Antwerp. Her motto was "Deugd voeght yder" (Virtue is in order).

Life

Barbara Ogier was the daughter of Maria Schoenmaeckers and Willem Ogier. Her father was a playwright and, from 1660, also the factor (principal author) of the De Olijftak (the Olive Branch) chamber of rhetoric. On 10 December 1680 she married the sculptor Willem Kerricx, who became prince of the Olijftak in 1692. Their son Willem Ignatius was born on 22 April 1682. He became a sculptor, painter and architect. He also wrote plays, as had his mother and grandfather, and in 1700 became factor of the Olijftak.

Ogier's Dood van Achilles (The Death of Achilles, 1680) was played before a farce by her father, played on the same day. In the introduction to this play Ogier stresses that women have their own view of history, even on a matter like the siege of Troy. In this case that was reasonable because the motive of the Trojan War was the abduction of a woman, Helen. The play was dedicated to Isabelle de Condé, wife of an Antwerp lawyer.

De Olijftak recognized Ogier's talent, and she was able to represent the chamber during the competition in Bruges in 1700. She also represented De Olijftak on the occasion of great festivities such as the visit to Antwerp in 1693 of the new governor general of the Spanish Netherlands, Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria. On this occasion, she wrote in two days a short play in which allegorical and mythological characters praise the elector and also describe the sad economic state of Antwerp after the closure of the mouth of the Scheldt. The 360 lines of verse feature the allegorical figures of the Virgin of Antwerp, Apollo, Painting accompanied by three students and Sculpture with two students. The decor for the play was made by the painter Godefridus Maes, while the play was published by Godgaf Verhulst, illustrated with an engraving by Gaspar Bouttats.

Work

General

Since they had less access to public life than men it was harder for women to print their works. Some opportunities were almost entirely reserved for men, such as chambers of rhetoric, and societies that women could not join. Barbara Ogier was an exception in many respects, since most of the female writers in the southern Netherlands were nuns or beguines who led a religious life in a convent or a women's community. However, the three tragedies she wrote were never printed, and were only partly transmitted. The poems known by her are from anthologies of the De Olijftak chamber.

Reception

Among those who held Ogier in high esteem during her life was Joseph Lamorlet, her colleague in the chamber of rhetoric, who in his Ontwaekte Poesie through the voice of Apollo called her Sappho, writing verse with no equal. In 1724, in his Parnas, of de zang-godinnen van een schilder, Willem van Swaanenburg published a funeral poem in memory of Barbara Ogier. According to Jan Frans Willems, the quality of her poetry was equal and perhaps superior to that of her father, Willem. She herself apologized for the flaws of her style in the following verses:

Verse in Dutch	Rough translation
Is myn Rymkonst vol ghebreken ? Tis door kortheydt van den tydt : 'K wacht van Konstenaers gheen strydt. Wie sal vrouwen teghenspreken ?	My poetry, is it full of defects? Lack of time is the cause: I do not fear criticism by artists. Who would dare to contradict a woman?

List of works

Notes

1. Aa 1867, p. 55.
2. ^ Frederiks & Branden 1888–1891, p. 566.
3. ^ Branden 1914, p. 99.
4. Branden 1914, p. 105.
5. Stecher 1886, p. 257.
6. Straelen 1853, p. 315.
7. Branden 1914, p. 100.
8. Vieu-Kuik & Smeyers 1975, p. 406.
9. Meeus 1995, pp. 234–235.
10. Straelen 1854, p. 97.
11. ^ Angillis 1856, p. 27.
12. Swaanenburg 1724, pp. 150–155.
13. Willems 1820–1824, p. 148.
14. Willems 1820–1824, p. 149.
15. Branden 1914, p. 98.
16. Angillis 1856, p. 30.
17. ^ Witsen Geysbeek 1822, pp. 73–74.
18. ^ Angillis 1856, p. 28.
19. Straelen 1853, p. 309.
20. Straelen 1855, p. 163.
21. Angillis 1856, p. 29.
22. Witsen Geysbeek 1822, p. 74.

Sources

• Aa, A.J. van der (1867), Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden (in Dutch), vol. 17, Haarlem: J.J. van Brederode, pp. 55–56
• Angillis, A. Angz (1856), "Barbara Ogier", Rumbeeksche avondstonden (in Dutch), De Vereenigde vrienden, De Brauwer-Stock, pp. 27–41{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Branden, F. Jos. van den (1914), Willem Ogier, tooneeldichter 1618–1689 (in Dutch), Antwerp: V. Resseler
• Frederiks, J.G.; Branden, F. Jos. van den (1888–1891), Biographisch woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche letterkunde (in Dutch), Amsterdam: L.J. Veen, p. 566
• Meeus, Hubert (1995), "Dye vermaerde coopstat van Antwerpen", Colloquium Neerlandicum 12 1994 Nederlands in culturele context (in Dutch), Woubrugge: Internationale Vereniging voor Neerlandistiek, pp. 234–235
• Stecher, J. (1886), Histoire de la littérature néerlandaise en Belgique (in Dutch), Antwerp: J. Sebèque & Cie., p. 257
• Straelen, J.B. van der (1853), "Geschiedenis der Rederykkamer de Violieren of Violettebloem of Violettebloem onder zinspreuk Wt jonsten versaemt te Antwerpen", Het taelverbond: letterkundig tijdschrift (in Dutch), Antwerp: Hendrik Peeters, pp. 300, 309, 315
• Straelen, J.B. van der (1854), Geschiedenis der Antwerpsche rederykkamers. 1: Geschiedenis der Violieren (in Dutch), Antwerp: Peeters, p. 97
• Straelen, J.B. van der (1855), Jaerboek der vermaerde en kunstryke gilde van Sint Lucas binnen de stad Antwerpen behelzende de gedenkweerdigste geschiedenissen in dit genootschap voorgevallen sedert het jaer 1434 tot het jaer 1793 (in Dutch), Antwerp: Peeters-Van Genechten, p. 163
• Swaanenburg, Willem van (1724), Parnas, of de zang-godinnen van een schilder (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Hendrik Bosch, pp. 150–155
• Vieu-Kuik, H.J.; Smeyers, Jos (1975), Geschiedenis van de letterkunde der Nederlanden (in Dutch), vol. 6, Standaard Uitgeverij, Antwerp/Amsterdam, p. 406{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
• Willems, Jan Frans (1820–1824), Verhandeling over de Nederuytsche tael- en letterkunde (in Dutch), vol. 2, Antwerp: Vve J.S. Schoesetters, p. 148
• Witsen Geysbeek, P.G. (1822), Biographisch anthologisch en critisch woordenboek der Nederduitsche dichters (in Dutch), vol. 4, JAC–NYV, Amsterdam: C.L. Schleijer, pp. 73–74

Further reading

• Keersmaekers, A. (1996), "1639. De jonge losbol Guilliam Ogier brengt nieuw leven op het Antwerpse toneel. Komedie en rederijkers in zeventiende-eeuws Antwerpen", in Rob Erenstein (ed.), Een theatergeschiedenis der Nederlanden. Tien eeuwen drama en theater in Nederland en Vlaanderen (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 212–217
• Prims, Floris (1949), "De dichteres Barbara Ogier", Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis bijzonderlijk van het oud hertogdom Brabant 32 (in Dutch), pp. 30–42
• Vaeck, Marc van; Verhoeven, Nicole (1997), "Barbara Ogier, Een rederijkersdochter om mee te pronken", in R. Schenkeveld-van der Dusse (ed.), Met en zonder lauwerkrans. Schrijvende vrouwen uit de vroegmoderne tijd 1550–1850: van Anna Bijns tot Elise van Calcar (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, pp. 391–395

• 1648 births
• 1720 deaths
• Belgian women poets
• Flemish writers (before 1830)
• Flemish women writers
• Dramatists and playwrights from the Holy Roman Empire
• Flemish dramatists and playwrights
• Writers from Antwerp