Karl Martin (geologist)

Karl Martin

Karl Martin during the expedition to the Moluccas in 1892

Karl Martin (full name Johann Karl Ludwig Martin , born November 24, 1851 in Jever , † November 14, 1942 in Leiden ) was a German geologist and paleontologist who had been working in the Netherlands since 1877 . He is considered to be the founder of paleontology in the Netherlands.

biography

His father was the postal director VW Martin and his mother was called MA Hoffmann. Karl Martin attended high school in Oldenburg and Jever. In April 1871 he enrolled at the University of Munich , then went to the University of Leipzig and the University of Göttingen . His most influential teachers were Karl von Seebach , Hermann Credner , Rudolf Leuckart and August Grisebach . At the latter university he received his doctorate in palaeontology and zoology on February 18, 1874 with the treatise A contribution to the knowledge of fossil euganoids . In the year of his doctorate he became an assistant at the Geological-Paleontological Museum in Göttingen and in 1876 he received a professorship at the grammar school in Wismar . At this time he was particularly interested in boulders . To deepen his knowledge he visited the Museum of Natural History in Leiden to examine the collection of Winand Staring (1808–1877). Here he came into contact with the zoologist Hermann Schlegel , who was the director of the museum.

In 1877 a chair in geology was established at the University of Leiden . With the protection of Schlegel, Martin was appointed professor of geology, mineralogy, crystallography and paleontology at this university on September 11, 1877. After giving his inaugural lecture on Geological Theories of the Modern Age on December 8, 1877, with introductory remarks from the prehistory of geology , he was director of the geological museum in Leiden, which was newly founded in 1880, from 1878 to 1922, and in 1895/96 he was rector of the University of Leiden . He resigned the latter office on February 8, 1896 with the speech Uit het jongste geologische verleden der Nederlandsche Koloniën in East and West India .

As a scientist, Martin was primarily concerned with paleontological and stratigraphic studies of the terrestrial modern fauna of the Dutch East Indies - and here especially of the Moluccas . Martin's research was based primarily on the fossil collections in the geological museum, most of which came from the Dutch colonies. He enlarged this collection through purchases and participation in expeditions to the colonies. To this end, he traveled to Suriname , the Dutch Antilles and Venezuela at the end of 1884 and to the Moluccas in 1892 and to Java in 1910 .

After being on February 25, 1922 emeritus was, he left on September 18, 1922 in retirement. Even after his retirement he continued his studies of the tertiary stratology of the Dutch East Indies. His successor as a university professor was Berend Georg Escher . Among his students were G. Molengraaff , J. Umbgrove , Lamoraal Ulbo de Sitter and PH Kuenen . Another well-known student of Martin was Queen Wilhelmina , who owned a collection of fossils and minerals and received private lessons in geology.

He is considered to be the founder of paleontology in the Netherlands.

Martin was a member of many learned societies of his time. On May 6, 1884, he became a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences , in 1882 a corresponding member of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, in 1879 a member of the Society for the Promotion of Natural Research and Medicine in Amsterdam, and in 1884 a member of the Overijselsche Vereeniging tot ontwikkeling van provinciale welvaart , 1887 member of the royal institute for language, country and ethnology of the Dutch East Indies, 1887 corresponding member of the Batavian Academy of Sciences, 1898 member of the Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina and 1890 member of the Dutch Society of Sciences in Haarlem. He also received a number of awards. In 1896 he became Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion , 1901 Knight of the Legion of Honor , 1882 Knight 1st Class of the Oldenburg House and Merit Order , 1886 Commander 3rd Class of the Order Simon Bolivar of Venezuela and 1919 Honorary Member of the University of Rostock .

family

Karl Martin was married twice. His first marriage was in 1875 with Anna Maria Christina Fittica (born May 27, 1846 in Amsterdam, † December 30, 1906 in Leiden). In his second marriage, the widower married Hillegonda Icke on January 30, 1908 in Leiden (born January 12, 1881 in Rotterdam; † September 21, 1966 in Leiden). The marriage remained childless. The following children are known from their first marriage:

• Wilhelm Martin , art historian (born June 20, 1876 in Quakenbrück, † March 10, 1954 in The Hague) m. August 9, 1906 in Leiden with Maria Cornelia Visser van Ijzendoorn (* June 17, 1885 in Gorinchem), daughter of Alibert Cornelis Visser van IJzendoorn (* August 2, 1858 in Gorinchem; † September 23, 1924) and Margaretha Johanna Mijnlieff (* November 9, 1856 in Jutphaas; † March 18, 1937)
• Alida Martin (born September 14, 1877 in Wismar) married. July 23, 1908 in Amsterdam with Marten van Maanen (* around 1879 in Hoorn)
• Karla Martin (born May 18, 1879 in Leiden) married. July 17, 1902 with Albertus Lodewijk Zaalberg (born February 16, 1873 in Aarlanderveen, † April 26, 1908 in The Hague)
• Herman Martin (born March 22, 1881 in Leiden) lived in The Hague
• Annie Martin (born August 26, 1884 Zwischenahn (Oldenburg); † December 22, 1884 in Leiden)
• Johannes Martin (born November 9, 1886 in Leiden) lived in The Hague

Fonts (selection)

• Petrefacts from the Raethic level near Hildesheim I. Fish remains . In: Journal of the German Geological Society 26, 1874, pp. 816–820
• Dutch and Northwest German sedimentary debris. 1878
• The Tertiary Layers on Java. 1879-1880
• West Indian sketches. Travel memories, with 22 tablets and a map . Leiden 1887 (reprinted by Outlook Verlag, Bremen 2011, ISBN 978-3-86403-143-4 ).
• Report on a trip to the Dutch West Indies and studies based on it . Leiden 1888.
• Travels in the Moluccas, in Ambon, the Uliasssern, Seran (Ceram) and Buru. A description of the country and its people. Text and Panel tape. Leiden 1894 (geological part 1903)
• The fossils of Java. 1891-1922
• Collections of the Geological Empire Museum in Leiden. 1881-1923

literature

• GE de Groot: Rijksmuseum van Geologie en Mineralogie, 1878–1978 . In: Scripta Geologica. A international series of geological papers , Vol. 48 (1978), pp. 3-25, ISSN  0375-7587 ( summary and link to the online version ).
• Lars van den Hoek Oostende, Jacob Leloux, Frank P. Wesselingh, Cor F. Winkler Prins: Cenozoic Molluscan types from Java (Indonesia) in the Martin Collection (Division of CenozoicMollusca, National Museum of Natural History, Leiden) . In: NNM Technical Bulletin , Vol. 5 (2002), pp. 1-130, ISSN  1387-0211 ( summary and link to the online version ).
• Prof. Dr. K. Martin. In: Leidsche Courant. December 7, 1917, p. 3/4 , accessed January 11, 2016 (Dutch). 
• Prof. Dr. JKL Martin overled. In: Leidsch Dagblad. November 16, 1942, p. 3/4 , accessed January 11, 2016 (Dutch). 
• L. Rutten, Levens report JKL Martin . In: Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen. Amsterdam 1942–1943, pp. 209–217, ( Online ; PDF; 554 kB)
• How is that? Uitgevers-Maatschaapij “Vivat”, Amsterdam 1902, p. 307
• Onze Hoogleeraren. Portretten en Biografieën. Nihgh & van Ditmar. Rotterdam 1898, p. 61
• CA Siegenbeek van Heukelom-Lamme ,. OCD Idenburg-Siegenbeek van Heukelom: Album scholasticum, Academiae Lugduni-Batavae, MDLXXV-MCMXL. EJ Brill, Leiden 1941, p. 103

Web links

Wikisource: Karl Martin  - Sources and full texts

Commons : Karl Martin  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Dataset at the Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW)