Editing Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (section)

==Early life and career==
[[File:Antony van Leeuwenhoek and his "Little animals"; being some account of the father of protozoology and bacteriology and his multifarious discoveries in these disciplines; (1932) (19122164704).jpg|thumb|Van Leeuwenhoek's birth house at Oosteinde, before it was demolished in 1926]]

Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was born in [[Delft]], [[Dutch Republic]], on 24 October 1632. On 4 November, he was baptized as ''Thonis''. His father, Philips Antonisz van Leeuwenhoek, was a basket maker who died when Antonie was five years old. His mother, Margaretha (Bel van den Berch), came from a well-to-do brewer's family. She remarried Jacob Jansz Molijn, a painter and the family moved to [[Warmond]] around 1640. Antonie had four older sisters: Margriet, Geertruyt, Neeltje, and Catharina.<ref>Dobell, pp. 19–21.</ref> When he was around ten years old his step-father died. He was sent to live in [[Benthuizen]] with his uncle, an attorney. <!--and town clerk. Benthuizen was not a town, but a village. --> At the age of 16 he became a bookkeeper's apprentice (casher) at a linen-draper's shop at [[Warmoesstraat]] in Amsterdam,<ref>Dobell, pp. 23–24.</ref> which was owned by [[William Davidson of Curriehill|William Davidson]]. Van Leeuwenhoek left there after six years.<ref>[http://lensonleeuwenhoek.net/biography.htm The curious observer. Events of the first half of Van Leeuwenhoek's life]. Lens on Leeuwenhoek (1 September 2009). accessed 20 April 2013.</ref><ref>Huerta, p. 31.</ref>

In July 1654, Van Leeuwenhoek married Barbara de Mey in Delft, with whom he fathered one surviving daughter, Maria (four other children died in infancy). He would live and study for the rest of his life at Hypolytusbuurt in a house he bought in 1655. He opened a draper's shop, selling linen, yarn and ribbon to seamstresses and tailors.<ref>{{cite web | title='The Golden Head' – Antoni's house | website=Delft.com | url=https://www.delft.com/routes/follow-in-the-footsteps-of-antoni-van-leeuwenhoek/points/6 | access-date=14 February 2024}}</ref> His status in Delft grew throughout the years. In 1660 he received a lucrative job as [[chamberlain (office)|chamberlain]] for the [[schepen|sheriffs]] in [[City Hall (Delft)|the city hall]], a position which he would hold for almost 40 years. His duties included maintaining the premises, heating, cleaning, opening for meetings, performing duties for those assembled, and maintaining silence on all matters discussed there.

In 1669 he was appointed as a [[land surveyor]] by the court of [[Holland]]; at some time he combined it with another municipal job, being the official "wine-gauger" of Delft and in charge of the city wine imports and taxation.<ref>Dobell, pp. 33–37.</ref> His wife had died in 1666, and in 1671, Van Leeuwenhoek remarried to Cornelia Swalmius with whom he had no children.<ref>Dobell, pp. 27–31.</ref>

[[Image:The Geographer.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Painting of man with scroll and compass, standing by sunlit window|''[[The Geographer]]'' by [[Johannes Vermeer]]]]

Van Leeuwenhoek was a contemporary of another famous Delft citizen, the painter [[Johannes Vermeer]], who was baptized just four days earlier. It has been suggested that he is the man portrayed in two Vermeer paintings of the late 1660s, ''[[The Astronomer (Vermeer)|The Astronomer]]'' and ''[[The Geographer]]'', but others argue that there appears to be little physical similarity. Because they were both relatively important men in a city with only 24,000 inhabitants, living both close to the main market, it is likely they knew each other. Van Leeuwenhoek acted as the [[executor]] of Vermeer's will when the painter died in 1675.<ref>Van Berkel, K. (24 February 1996). ''Vermeer, Van Leeuwenhoek en De Astronoom''. Vrij Nederland (Dutch magazine), pp. 62–67.</ref>{{#tag:ref|In ''[[A Short History of Nearly Everything]]'' (p.&nbsp;236) [[Bill Bryson]] alludes to rumors that Vermeer's mastery of light and perspective came from use of a [[camera obscura]] produced by Van Leeuwenhoek. This is one of the examples of the controversial [[Hockney–Falco thesis]], which claims that some of the [[Old Master]]s used optical aids to produce their masterpieces.|group="note"}}

Van Leeuwenhoek's religion was "[[Dutch Reformed]]" and [[Calvinism|Calvinist]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html |title=The religious affiliation of Biologist A. van Leeuwenhoek |publisher=Adherents.com |date=8 July 2005 |access-date=13 June 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707164902/http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html| archive-date=7 July 2010 |url-status=usurped}}</ref> Like [[Jan Swammerdam]] he often referred with reverence to the wonders God designed in making creatures great and small, and believed that his discoveries were merely further proof of the wonder of creation.<ref>{{cite web|year=2006 |url=http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html |title=The Religion of Antony van Leeuwenhoek |access-date=23 April 2006| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060504104155/http://www.adherents.com/people/pl/Antony_van_Leeuwenhoek.html| archive-date=4 May 2006 |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>A. Schierbeek, ''Measuring the Invisible World: The Life and Works of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek F R S'', Abelard-Schuman (London and New York, 1959), QH 31 L55 S3, {{LCCN|5913233}}. This book contains excerpts of Van Leeuwenhoek's letters and focuses on his priority in several new branches of science, but makes several important references to his spiritual life and motivation. {{ISBN?}}</ref>