Donald Johan Kuenen

Donald Johan Kuenen

Donald Johan "Don" Kuenen (born March 19, 1912 in Leiden ; † September 21, 1995 in Oegstgeest ) was a Dutch biologist.

Life

Donald Johan was the son of Professor Johannes Petrus Kuenen from Leiden . In 1923 he attended the municipal grammar school in Leiden and in 1930 began studying biology at the University of Leiden . On October 31, 1933 he passed his candidate exam, in 1933 he was assistant at the zoological laboratory with Cornelis Jakob van der Klaauw (1893-1972) and in 1934 internship assistant at the Museum of Natural History with Hilbrand Boschma (1893-1976). After he had passed his doctoral examination on March 16, 1937, Kuenen received his doctorate in Artemia on June 16, 1939 with the thesis Systematical and physiological notes on the brine shrimp, Artemia . In 1939 he got a position as an entomologist at the laboratory of the Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij company of the Royal Dutch Shell in Amsterdam, in 1941 he switched to the Zeelands Proeftuin in Wilhelminadorp near Goes in the same capacity and in 1949 became a conservator at the zoological laboratory in Leiden.

On February 25, 1950 he was appointed to the professorship of experimental zoology at the Leiden University, which he took up on March 20, 1950 and gave his inaugural address Insect en Milieu on May 12, 1950 . On February 16, 1959, the briefing was changed to general zoology. In the academy year 1964/65 he was rector of the alma mater , in which task he also worked in the term 1976-1979. On October 1, 1969, he became associate professor of environmental biology (Dutch milieu biology ) and became director of the Rijksinstitut voor natuurbeheer in Arnhem . In 1976 he became a full professor of natural sciences and in 1978 he was given the full professorship for environmental biology. Kunen's research focus was on the investigation of the influence of humans on the biological environment.

In this way, he played a key role in building the foundations of environmental biology in the Netherlands and became director of the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu, which he initiated, and various international societies. For example, he became an honorary member of the Royal Entomological Society of London in 1951 , a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences in 1974 and an honorary doctorate from the University of Dundee in 1978 . In 1966 he became a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion , in 1986 Commander of the Order of Orange-Nassau and on September 1, 1979 he retired from his professorship. In 1980 he became chairman of the Council for Environmental and Nature Investigations (RMNO), which he resigned in 1986.

family

Kuenen married Louisa Johanna Theodora Janssens (born November 24, 1911 in Den Helder, † May 27, 2002 in Oegstgeest) in The Hague on September 29, 1939, the daughter of the naval officer and government adviser of the Dutch fishing center Willem Johannis Janssens (* 21 November 1877 in 's-Hertogenbosch; † December 30, 1942 in Dordrecht) and his wife Andrina Dorothea Vriesendorp (born October 12, 1882 in Dordrecht; † May 13, 1970 in Scheveningen). The marriage has a son and two daughters. From the children we know:

• Johannes Gijsbrecht Kuenen (born December 9, 1940 in Heemstede) Professor at the TU Delft, married to Vibeke Boumeester
• Andrine (Andrien) Dora Kuenen (* 1943) married to Otto Strack
• Dora (Doortje) Louisa Kuenen (* 1946) married to Max Rutgers van Rozenburg

Works

• Systematic and physiological notes on the brine shrimp, Artemia. Leiden 1939
• Insect en milieu. Leiden 1950
• Insect plagues, ontstaan ​​en bestrijding. Leiden 1964
• Men en milieu. Leiden 1965
• Zoology. Een general inleiding. Utrecht 1967, 1969
• Men in nature. Hoogwoud 1970
• Prikkebeen honoris causa. Leiden 1977
• Kwantiteit en kwaliteit. Leiden 1979
• Universities and environmental education. Paris 1986

literature

• K. Bakker & J. Meyer: Levens report DJ Kuenen. In: Levensberichten en herdenkingen, the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen. Amsterdam, 1996, pp. 61–74 ( Online PDF )

Web links

• Kuenen in the professorial catalog of the University of Leiden
• Kuenen entry at the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW)