In memoriam: Tanne Bloks

It is with great sadness that we share the news of the passing of our alumna Tanne Bloks, who graduated cum laude from two research Masters at our university: Nederlandse literatuur and cultuur and History and Philosophy of Science (HPS). Before starting her Master’s, she graduated cum laude from the BA Nederlandse taal en cultuur (NLC).

Tanne was a very active, dedicated and engaged student. She had a sharp mind and a huge intellectual drive, eager to join discussions about a broad range of subjects. She was also a thoughtful and enthusiastic student ambassador, a buddy for new international students, and a member of many academic councils and communities, among which the Education Committee and Board of Studies (BoS) of the Graduate School of Natural Sciences (GSNS). She had to do all these things online: due to a severe medical condition, she could not leave her house. That made her activities far more difficult to execute but she always tried to find ways to overcome and succeed. She was able to radiate her enthusiasm through the screen.

A great love for research

Tanne loved doing research, contacted experts all over the world, participated in conferences and organised workshops. She was broadly educated, from technical art history to chemical nanotechnology.

Her NLC thesis was called De verborgen natuurkennis van vrouwen in de vroegmoderne tijd: het contrast tussen de beeldvorming over Johanna Petronella de Timmerman, Elisabeth Maria Post en Rachel Ruysch, en de natuurkennis die uit hun eigen werk blijkt. In this thesis, she utilized the full breadth of her expertise, which made it into a wonderful interdisciplinary work. Comparing the knowledge of nature expressed in early modern women’s literary and artistic work with reception documents evaluating the merits of these women, Tanne was able to demonstrate that there was a discrepancy between the knowledge these women possessed, and the extent to which the possession of natural knowledge was ascribed to them.

Her HPS thesis was called “Reconstructing” a colour theory: Unraveling the theoretical, material and methodological assumptions underlying James Sowerby’s "A New Elucidation of Colours" (1809). It was an impressive piece of work, built on research ranging from close reading of historical books to broad interdisciplinary research, which included the reproduction of historical experiments, for which she collaborated with multiple museums and did a participant study.

Highlights in her study were the investigation of “The garden of earthly delights” (Jeroen Bosch) and her analysis of the “Turin-Milan Hours” for the Belgian Art Historical Institute.

Tanne died at home, in the loving presence of her parents. Following her wishes, she was cremated in private.

With Tanne, we have lost a highly talented young woman, who still had a lot to offer to the world. She was full of ideas and was looking for ways to pursue a scientific career and make valuable contributions to society. We wish her family, friends and her scientific colleagues strength in dealing with this loss.

On behalf of the staff and students of the BA Nederlandse literatuur en cultuur, the MSc History and Philosophy of Science, the RMA Nederlandse literatuur en cultuur and the Graduate School of Natural Sciences,

Dr David Baneke
Dr Nina Geerdink
Dr Marijn Hollestelle