Meet the Beijerincks. The young boy was to become one of the most famous microbiologists of his generation, and a continuing influence even today.
Derk and Jeanette Beijerinck had 4 children, Frederic, Johanna, Hënriette and Martinus. Derek started life as a minor businessman and then became a surveyor. Frederick followed his father into surveying while both girls underwent teacher training. During his school days, Martinus had a great deal of contact with professional botanists, and after he warned his silver medal for a botanical project, it was almost inevitable that he would become a botanist.
Martinus studied at the Delft Polytechnical School, where he began a lifelong friendship with Jacob van ‘t Hof (who eventually won the Nobel prize). The 2 young men shared accommodation but were asked to leave after they took their experiments home and boiled dead moles in caustic soda to free the skeletons so that they could make glue from the bones.
After he graduated, Martinus took teaching jobs in Wageningen and started his research into plant galls, which eventually led to his doctoral thesis. He gained his Doctorate from Leiden. Thanks to the high quality of his publications, he was then offered a job as bacteriologist at the Dutch Yeast and Spirits Factory, owned by Jacques van Marken. This was the first industrial microbiology lab.
Dirk with his daughters, Henriëtte (centre) and Johanna.
Jeanette with her sons, Frederick (centre) and Martinus.
