Menno Simons (1496 – 31 January 1561) was an
Anabaptist religious leader from the
Friesland region of the
Low Countries. Simons was a contemporary of the
Protestant Reformers and his followers became known as
Mennonites. "Menno Simons" is the Dutch version of his name; the Frisian version is Minne Simens , the possessive "s" creating a
patronym meaning "Minne, son of Simen" (cf. English family names like Williams and Rogers).