Radboud University’s name is heard on a daily basis in this Nijmegen family. Father Jos Joosten is a professor there, daughter Catíe studies at the European Law School, and mother Hanneke, who studied philosophy, has ancestors who left a strong mark on the University’s history.

Catíe was never able to talk to her grandfather, Jos van der Grinten, about legal matters, something she regrets. ‘He died when I was four.’ So he never knew that, like him, she went to study law in Nijmegen, and that she still occasionally comes across his name in a ruling. Or that she sees the portrait of her grandfather’s brother – her great-uncle Wim van der Grinten (Rector from 1969 to 1972) – hanging in the Aula.

Law student Catíe comes from the well-known Van der Grinten lawyer family. In addition to her grandfather and great-uncle, many of her uncles, aunts, cousins, and nieces also studied law. ‘At family parties, we get into robust discussions with each other,’ she says with a laugh.

Without her great-grandfather Jos (1885-1932), Nijmegen might not even have had a university. It was he who, as a lawyer and town clerk, brought the plan for a Catholic university to the attention of the Nijmegen mayor and politicians. The outcome was that the university was actually founded in the Waal city in 1923.

‘And that’s something special,’ says Catíe’s mother, Hanneke van der Grinten. ‘I did think about it a lot when I first decided to study in Nijmegen myself.’

Philosophy

Just to be clear, mother Hanneke did not opt for law, but for philosophy. She enrolled in a study programme in Nijmegen in 1998, after finishing the conservatory and working for a few years. By the time she completed her degree, she was already a mother. The mother of Catíe, among others, who did follow the family tradition and chose law.

Radboud University’s name is heard on a daily basis at their home, also because Catíe’s father, Jos Joosten, works at the University as a Professor of Dutch Literature. ‘As a Nijmegen-born boy, I actually wanted to study in Amsterdam,’ he says. ‘But I didn’t get a scholarship, so I ended up studying here after all. I liked it so much that I didn’t want to leave. I completed my PhD and became a professor here.’

Here is a fun detail: Jos Joosten’s father also worked at the Nijmegen university, but not as a scholar. ‘He was a skipper. When we came ashore in 1972, he started renting out properties and worked as a sort of handyman at the University.’

Jos Joosten and Hanneke van der Grinten met in their youth; Jos was a friend of her brother. They live in Jos’ father’s house in Nijmegen-Oost. In the context of Radboud University’s centenary, Jos Joosten is currently working on a portrait of his wife’s grandfather for the Numaga historical society, in which he is involved. Thus coming full circle.