W. F. Gisolf
Encyclopedia
Dr Ir Willem Frederik Gisolf (September 4, 1884, Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

 – April 6, 1944, Tjimahi) was a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 geologist
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 and petrographer
Petrography
Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are described in detail. Petrographic descriptions start with the field notes at the...

.

Gisolf graduated from Delft University in the early 1900's. In 1910, he married Elisabeth Jacoba Cornelia van der Waals, a niece of Johannes Diderik van der Waals
Johannes Diderik van der Waals
Johannes Diderik van der Waals was a Dutch theoretical physicist and thermodynamicist famous for his work on an equation of state for gases and liquids....

, from whom he separated. In the subssequent years, he invested in the company of W.H. Gispen, who had married his sister Annie Gisolf, and who could start his first company thanks to this investment.

Gisolf married Johanna C.A. zur Kleinsmiede (born 1903) in 1925. From 1925 to 1940 Gisolf was Director of the Hogere Burger School (HBS) (Dutch secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...

) in Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...

 in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. He died in a Japanese concentration camp in Tjimahi in 1944.

Gisolf dedicated his thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...

—"Beschrijving van een microscopisch onderzoek van Gabbros en Amfibolieten herkomstig van Midden-Celebes"—to G.A.F. Molengraaff, his close friend. W.F. Gisolf is further well known from his publication in the "Jaarboek van het Mijnwezen in N.O.I." from 1924 with the title "De meteoriet van Tjerebon".

In the "Jaarboek voor het mijnwezen" Gisolf published various articles between 1920 and 1930, which later were published as separate booklets:
  • On the occurrence of diamond as an accessory mineral in olivine and northite bearing bombs, occurring in basaltic lava, ejected by the volcano Gunung Ruang (Sangir-Archipelago north of Celebes).
  • Microscopisch onderzoek van de uit de Gajo-lesten verzamelde gesteenten.
  • Microscopisch onderzoek van gesteenten van Noord-Nieuw-Guinea.
  • Mikroskopisch onderzoek van gesteenten uit Zuidoost-Selébès.
  • Bijdrage tot de kennis van de waarschijnlijke genese der ijzerertsen van het Koekoesan-Gebergte (Zuid- en Oost-Afdeeling van Borneo).


He even wrote an article in a German Journal, the "Mineralogische und Petrografische Mitteilungen", called "Zur graphischen Darstellung von Gesteinsanalysen". In this article, dated 4 September 1927 in Bandoeng, he uses the same graphic analytical tools he later used in recording the results of his pupils at the HBS (see below).

Many former pupils have affectionately recorded their memories of their former headmaster (follow link below). In essence he was labeled strict but fair. Remarkably, in 1932 he supported the formation of a student association "Spes patriae" which formulated first thoughts about an independent Indonesian state, in close collaboration with the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Many high ranking officials of the later Republic of Indonesia got their higher education at the HBS in Bandoeng.

A unique publication was a scientific analysis of the results of the school where he was the director, entitled "De resultaten van het onderwijs". In this study, he applied scientific methods and a statistical analytical approach to the results of his students. This allowed for practical feedback to the teachers involved, and constituted one of the first scientific studies into the educational field.

He was correspondent for the Royal Netherlands Academy for the Sciences for fysics (natuurkunde).
Between 1917 and 1919 he was member of the "Rotterdamse Natuurhistorische Club".
In 1919, he joined the "Bataafsch Genootschap der Proefondervindelijke Wijsbegeerte", as recorded in its memorial "Herdenking van het 150-jarig bestaan", dated 17 August, 1919.

For Abendanon he categorized and analyzed the geological finds of his "Midden Celebes-expeditie".

In 1938 he visited New Zealand from November 19 to 17 December; in the well-known New Zealand newspaper "The Evening Post" he was quoted from an interview with an "Otago Daily Times" representative, on his views about the Chinese and the Japanese in the Dutch East Indies.

During that visit, he also met with professor Benson, whom he is supposed to have met in Japan in 1926.

The local paper even mentioned the Hotel he stayed in, the Midland Hotel.

The newspapers duly recorded his departure on 'Hr Ms Tasman, with Saigon as ultimate destination via Sidney.
W.F. Gisolf admired Molengraaff so much that he named his youngest son after Molengraaff (Gustaaf Adolf Frederik Gisolf). Subsequently, the name Gustaaf continued in the family (Karel Jan Gustaaf van Oosterom, Gustaaf Jan Frederik van Oosterom).

External links

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