Gerrit Jeronimo (Gerry) Broekhuysen

Broekhuysen, Gerrit Jeronimo (Gerry) (1908-1975)

Initially worked as a Government entomologist in Pretoria but later became a lecturer/professor at the University of Cape Town and spent the rest of his life first studying marine biology and then studying birds.

Chronology

Date	Age	Event
18 Apr 1908		Born in Batavia, Java (now Jakarta, Indonesia).
1918	10	Sent to the Netherlands for his education.
1936	28	Obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Leyden.
1936	28	Married Marie Henriette. They had two sons.
1936-1938	28-30	Lectured in Zoology at the University of Cape Town.
1938-1942	30-34	Worked in the Government Department of Entomology in Pretoria. Studied the Brown House Ant Pheidole megacephala.
1942-c1945		Took up post as an entomologist in the Dutch East Indies but shortly after arrivng there he and his wife were taken prisoner by the invading Japanese fources and imprisoned for the remainder of the hostilities. He evidently studied the biology of a spider during this time.
1 Aug 1946	38	Became a lecturer in Zoology at the University of Cape Town.
1 Oct 1954	46	Promoted to senior lecturer.
1 Apr 1967	nearly 59	Promoted to assistant professor.
end of 1973	65	Retired.
16 Apr 1975	nearly 67	Died on holiday after a short illness, in Athens, Greece.

"In his early professional career Broekhuysen was largely interested in entomology and marine biology. While at the University of Cape Town he undertook, in conjunction with others, marine biological surveys at Port Elizabeth and East London, and later participated in several estuarine surveys, namely at Kosi Bay (1949), Durban Bay (1950), Lake St Lucia (1957, 1970), Morrumbene, Mozambique (1954) and the Breede River estuary (1955). However, it was as an ornithologist that Broekhuysen was best known...[and] directed his research and teaching towards bird behaviour and its analysis. An ethusiastic teacher who inspired others, he was the first in South Africa to supervise students for higher degrees based on original research on birds." (Clancey, 1987)

Specimens collected

Ants in S.A. Museum collected in 1940 from Pretoria. There are presumably further insect specimens in the Plant Protection Research Institute, Pretoria.

References

Clancey, P.A. 1987. Broekhuysen, Gerrit Jeronimo. In Dictionary of South African Biography Volume V (eds C.J. Beyers & J.L. Basson). Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, pp. 89-90.