The most important leader of German humanism "No works cited" The most brilliant and important leader of German humanism, b. in Rotterdam, Holland, October 28, probably 1466; d. in Basel, Switzerland, on July 12, 1536. He was the illegitimate child of Gerard, citizen of Gouda, and Margaretha Rogers, and at a later date he Latinized his name as Desiderius Erasmus. Eventually his father became a priest. Erasmus and an older brother were raised in Gouda by their mother. At the age of nine he was sent to the school of the famous humanist Hegius in Deventer, where his taste for humanism was awakened.