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In
1814 Borger married Abrahamina van der
Meulen, a woman of noble birth
(Yonkvrouw) and the sister of an
Amsterdam minister. A year later,
however, she died in childbirth. In 1819
Elias married (Yonkvrouw) Cornelia
Scheltema, also of noble birth, but the
following year she too died giving
birth, as did the newborn child.
As a result, Borger fell into a deep
depression, wanting only to be near his
departed loved ones. He expressed his
feelings in a book of poetry,
Aan
den Rhijn in de Lente van het Jaar 1820
&
("Ode to the Rhine").
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Elias
Annes Borger was a Dutch poet, and
professor of theology and literature. His father
was a wine merchant and gin distiller in Joure,
where Elias studied Latin and Greek. At
seventeen he went to Leiden, with limited
means, to study for the ministry. He received
his doctorate in theology in 1807. His ambitions
to become Buitengewoon Hoogleraar (the highest
type of professor) were hindered by the French
takeover of the Netherlands. After the French
left in 1815 he became a general professor of
theology. In 1817 he was also appointed
professor of history and Greek literature.
