Aleijda Wolfsen

She was born in Zwolle as the daughter of the wealthy mayor Hendrik Wolfsen (1615-1684), and Aleijda Verwers (1626-1665) in the house on the Grote Aa bij de Wal, that was later renamed to Melkmarkt 53.

[1] Her father held important political offices and in 1657 the family moved to The Hague, though the house in Zwolle was kept on.

Her father remarried three years later in 1668, but not before Aleijda herself had married the mayor of Zwolle Pieter Soury on 5 October 1667 in Rijswijk.

Her father wrote a poem in an album kept by Gesina ter Borch in 1660, indicating that the family socialized in artist circles.

[1] Aleijda was widely known and respected as a painter, and is recorded as painting the portrait of William III of England in 1674.