Dr Agatha Gijzen (Rotterdam *9 October 1904, Merksem/Belgium †19 February 1995) was a remarkable zoologist in more than one respect. Although her professional career, spanning more than three and a half decades, was largely spent as a staff zoologist in the service of the famous Antwerp/ Planckendael zoological gardens complex in Belgium (1947-1974), she had already made her name as a zoologist/historian by obtaining her Ph.D. degree in 1938 on an extensive first study of the history of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden, the national museum of natural history of The Netherlands. She properly organized the archives of the museum for the very first time and her published doctoral thesis (unfortunately only available in Dutch; summary in... |