Wessel Albertus van Hengel

Born in Leiden on November 12, 1779, and dying there on February 6, 1871, he studied theology at Leiden University after first attending the city’s Latin school. Early in his career he served as a minister in Kalslagen and later in Driehuizen and Zuidschermer, where he began publishing theological work in earnest.

His writings focused on biblical and theological subjects, including studies on Lazarus, the ascension of Christ, eternal punishment, and New Testament criticism and exegesis. Contemporary biographical sources describe him as a Dutch Reformed theologian whose interest in New Testament interpretation was encouraged during his studies.

He later became a professor, with confirmed appointments at the Athenaeum in Franeker and the Athenaeum in Amsterdam; other sources also place him among the scholars of Leiden University. He was the father of Johannes Fredericus van Hengel, a Dutch physician, and remained part of Dutch intellectual and religious life well into the nineteenth century.