In Memoriam Cornelis (Kees) Kalkman (1928—1998)

9 Pages·1998·0.88 MB·Dutch

by  Baas, Pieter

ProfessorDr.C. Kalkman
BLUMEA 43 (1998) 257-264
In memoriamCornelis (Kees) Kalkman (1928—1998)
WiththesuddenanduntimelydeathofKeesKalkmanon 19January 1998,systematic
botany ingeneralandtheRijksherbarium/Hortus Botanicus inparticularlost agreat
servant. Thewordservant is appropriate, because inatotally unselfishand very con-
scientiousway Kalkmancarriedoutallthedutiesassociatedwiththevariousfunctions
heheldduring his distinguished career.Kalkman’sbusy schedulewas filledby doing
things thatwere usefulforothersandforprojects or institutionshebelieved in.
In an earliernote on the occasion ofhis retirement(Blumea 35 [1991] 277-278),
Ihavebriefly sketchedKalkman’scareerandstressed his importantroleas Director,
firstoftheRijksherbarium, andlateroftheResearchInstituteRijksherbarium/Hortus
Botanicus.Withthepassingoftimeitis becoming increasinglyevidenthowKalkman’s
strategic planning andactions have benefitedtheinstitute andsystematic botany in
Leiden.
Bomonthe5thofMay, 1928,inDelftKalkmansuccessfully completedhisHighschool
(HBS-B) education inTheHague in June 1946.As allyoungmeninthosepost-war
years hehadto entercompulsory military service forthedurationofoneand ahalf
year. In October 1948he embarked on the study ofhis choice, biology, at Leiden
University, to becompleted with the 'doctoraal'examination(roughly equivalent to
an MSc degree) in January 1955.With 6 years and 3 months Kalkman belonged
to the category offast students. From 1951 he had, moreover, combinedhis study
withanactive demonstratorship attheRijksherbarium. Kalkman'spreference forplant
systematics wasclearfromthechoiceoftwo ofhisthreeresearch projects:ataxonomic
revisionoffourgeneraofBurseraceaeundersupervision ofthethen Rijksherbarium
directorH.J.Lam,andafloristicanalysisoftheLesserSundaIslandsunderC.G.G.J,
van Steenis, thenrecentlyrepatriated fromIndonesiawithhisFloraMalesianateam.
Thethird subject was ontheecology ofsow-bugs intheNetherlands.In 1956hewas
appointed as forestbotanist withtheForestry Service (Boswezen) in whatwas then
DutchNew Guinea, for a period ofthree years. In April 1959 his appointment as
ScientificOfficer(later tobechanged intoLecturer) attheRijksherbarium followed,
buthewasallowedtoextendhisstay inNew GuineauntilSeptember ofthatyear,to
participate inthesuccessfulexpedition totheStarMountains.Fromthenonhiscareer
was firmly linked with Leiden University. Professor Lam gave him the task of co-
ordinating allteaching ofsystematic botany to freshmenand second-andthird-year
students- atthat time thisinvolved several extensivelecture andpractical courses
andasubstantialprogrammeoffieldexcursions. Kalkman proved to be athorough,
though not always very inspiring teacher.As a studentmybest memoriesofhim are
asanexcursion leader, whenbothhisrealenthusiasmforplants andhis greatsenseof
humourand relativity came through. The poker games in the evening hours with
demonstratorsandstudentsusing Kalkman's diceandsuperior leatherpokerset laid
thefoundationofmanylong lasting friendships.
258 BLUMEA Vol. 43, No. 2, 1998
As a subject for his PhD research a revision of the genusPygeum (Rosaceae) had
beenchosen.Thethesiswas successfully defendedon28April 1965,butinthecourse
ofhisstudiesKalkmanhadbeenshockedtodiscoverthatPygeum didnotmeritgeneric
statusbutthatitsspecies all firmlybelonged toPrunus. TheRosaceaewereto retain
his greatinterestuntilhis death(seethebibliography below).Oneofthelastprojects
he completed justbefore his death was a family account for Kubitzki & Renner's
FamiliesandGeneraofFlowering Plants.Otherresearchinterestshepursued through-
out were economic botany, comparative morphology and general principles ofsys-
tematicsand taxonomy(twodistinct conceptsintheLeiden tradition). However,the
numerous claimsthat werelaidon hisorganisational andadministrativetalents never
lefthimmuchtimeto contributesubstantially totheliteratureinthesefields.
Inthelatesixtiesandearly seventiesKalkmanplayedaprominentroleinthecreation
ofnew, democraticbodiesgoverning university policies.In 1972hewas appointed as
Director ofthe Rijksherbarium and Professor of 'Special' Botany (i.e.,plant sys-
tematics) succeeding C.G.G.J, van Steenis who had given such a strongprofile to
thesefunctionsduringhisnineyears'tenure. TheRoyal NetherlandsBotanicalSociety
electedKalkmanaVicePresidentandEditorialChairmanofActaBotanicaNeerlan-
dicafrom1971-1974.From 1979-1983hewouldservethesamesociety as Chairman.
From 1975-1977hewas Deanofthe Subfaculty ofBiology, andin 1980and 1981he
was given thevery demanding postofDeanoftheScienceFaculty. During thelatter
period thestrainofofficeandoverburdening himselfwith work showed,andhehad
tobetreatedforheartfibrillation.Hehadtotakemedicationforthisrelatively harm-
less conditionever since. Many were hisotherextracurricularfunctions.HereIonly
mentionhislong-lastingchairmanship oftheTreubMaatschappij(a societyfurthering
research inthe tropics). In recognition ofhis greatmeritsforthis society Kalkman
hadbeennominatedfortheValentijn Awardbythepresent BoardoftheTreubMaat-
schappij, but overtakenby hissudden deaththe awardhad to bepresented posthu-
mously tohis widow,Mrs. Jopie Kalkmanin Mayofthis year.
As DirectoroftheRijksherbarium andlaterofthecombinedRijksherbarium/Hortus
Botanicus Kalkman very ably sailed his institutethrough heavy storms. Inthe late
seventiesandearly eightiessystematic botany inLeidensurvived veryheavypressures
and couldavoidsevere budget cuts only thankstoKalkman's tenaciousdefenceand
combinedstrategy fororganisationalreformandpreservation ofthecore missionsof
an institutein collectionmanagement,research and teaching. In the lateeighties,
afterthesuccessfulmerger withtheHortusBotanicus,Kalkmanfeltthatthedarkest
cloudshadliftedandthattheinstitutewas wellpositioned forasafe andprosperous
future.He thereforerightly feltjustified to take early retirementand handover the
reigns toa youngersuccessor.
Retirementdid him much good. After his well-attended valedictory lecture on 13
December1990andthe large farewellparty thrownby the staffofhisinstitutea day
later, hesoonreturnedtotheinstitutetoworkdailyonanumberofprojectshewished
tocomplete: the Rosaceaefor FloraMalesiana(published in 1993)andan original
andbroadtextbookinDutchonEconomicBotany (manuscript almostcompleted just
In Memoriam Cornells Kalkman 259
beforehis death). Andhe feltduty-bound to positively honourour requeststo take
upandcontinuethetime-consuming jobofEditor-in-ChiefofFloraMalesianaandto
carry out several othertasks hewas so uniquely capable ofdoing well.His work for
FloraMalesianacannot beunderestimated.Inaperiod whentheformatoftheFlora
was modernisedandrationalisedhecommunicatedwithmanyauthorsofwide-ranging
botanicaland linguistic backgrounds with kindness and patience, in orderto make
sure thatafteryears ofvery slowprogress theoutputofthisMega-Flora project once
again increased substantially. It is gratifying that he lived to see Volume 13,which
shows the Florain a modernandattractive format, including colourillustrationsof
themascotte family ofFM: theRafflesiaceae.He took greatsatisfactionin teaching
himselfseveral new word processing and illustrationskills for his work on Flora
Malesianaand the textbook ofEconomic Botany. We hope to complete the latter
project posthumously.
As ascientist Kalkman'swritten outputremainedrelatively small, as witnessed by
thebibliography printed below.His greatestsignificance liesinhismodestly displayed
but strong leadership ofour institute, enabling several new branches ofplant sys-
tematicssuch asphylogenetics, historicalbiogeography, andcomparative ultrastruc-
turalresearch toflorishduring his directorship. His strategic success fortheinstitute
was tonosmalldegree thankstohisabsoluteintegrity thatwas respected by all inthe
hierarchy ofFeidenUniversity andtheDutchresearchestablishment.His contribu-
tionstoMalesianBotany willremainoflasting significance.
Kees Kalkman was akind and very considerateperson. During his directorship that
kindnessandconsiderationwassometimeshiddenbehindtheoverwhelming senseof
dutyhefelthimself,andwhichherightfully demandedofothers(though neverto an
unreasonable extent). He was parsimonious with compliments, because he never
expected compliments forhisownwork, howeverwell-done,andbecausehewanted
to avoidpersonal favoritism. In themore relaxedyears ofhisretirementhe showed
hisappreciation ofothersmoreeasily. During his farewellparty hehadbeen unduly
teasedfornot handing outenough encouraging shoulderpats tohisstaff.Nevertheless
heonce confidedtomethathehada'hiddenagenda' ofhumanresource management
thatwas inspiredby the idealthateveryone shouldbeenabledtobe happy inhis or
her work, beit in mounting herbariumspecimens, teaching orresearch. He will be
greatly missed by us all andmanyoutside theinstitute.We wereoverwhelmedwith
many expressions of grief and condolence from all over the world in the weeks
following his death.Oursympathy goestohis devoted wife Jopieandhis daughters
FiekeandHermieneke.
PieterBaas
Eponymy
Burseraceae: Santiriakalkmaniana K.M. Kochummen
Ericacea: Dimorphantherakalkmanii Sleum.
Leguminosae: Abarema kalkmanii Kosterm.
Leguminosae: Archidendron kalkmanii (Kosterm.)I. Nielsen
Myristicaceae: Myristicakalkmanii W.J.J.O. deWilde
260 BLUMEA Vol. 43, No. 2, 1998
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF C. KALKMAN
by J.R.Kruijer & C.W.J. Lut
1953
Revision ofthe Burseraceae ofthe Malaysianarea in awider sense.VI. Revision ofthe genus
GarugaRoxburgh.—Blumea 7 (2): 459-472.
1954
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HetachtsteInternationale BotanischeCongresteParijs. IAPT:Subsectie4a.Chorologie.—Vakbl.
Biol. 34(10): 192.
1955
Aplant-geographicalanalysis ofthe LesserSunda Islands. —ActaBot.Neerl.4(2): 200-225.
Burseraceae[P.W.Leenhoutsincollaboration withC.Kalkman andH.J.Lam].—FloraMalesiana,
Series I,5(2): 209-296.
1956
Kortverslagtourneesectie bosbotanie juni-juli 1956 metboomnamenlijst in Manikiong vande
inzamelingop MeosWaar.—Hollandia: 7 pp. [mimeographed].
1957
Handleidingvoorhet inzamelen vanrotan-herbarium. —Hollandia: 4pp. [mimeographed].
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lezingen.—Hollandia: 9pp. [mimeographed].
1958
Verslagvandesectiebosbotanie betreffende eentourneenaarhetgebiedvanBeriat(Onderafdeling
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1959
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