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Henri George Derx †
NECROLOGY
HENRI GEORGE DERX
t
(14 SEPTEMBER 1894-15 AUGUSTUS 1953) BY
L. G. M. BAAS BECKING (Summary of a contribution published in Series C, 57, No 2 of these Proceedings)
His career was, over a wide range of disciplines, that of a "master of all trades". Born from a line of colonial servants, DERX spent his boyhood in Java and remained inspired, until his death, by the greatness of tropical nature. His studies at the Technical University of Delft made him into a first rate organic chemist. Inspired by his teacher, Professor J. BoESEKEN, he became the discoverer, in 1922, of the spatial structure of cyclic ring systems. After his marriage to CLAIRE TROUBAT from Pau, France, DERX accepted a position as industrial chemist at Calve, Delft. In this period, collaborating with A. J. KLUYVER and C. B. VAN NrEL, he found himself as a biologist. He clarified the mechanism of the oxidative breakdown of fats by moulds, he took part in the discovery of diacetyl in the butter aroma. He was the discoverer of heterothallism in Penicillium and developed methods for the isolation of the "ballistic yeasts"; the Sporobolomycetes. After the fusion of Calve with Lever Brothers (later Unilever) DERX had little chance for scientific work outside the technical realm. He started to grow and to study Orchids and became an authority in this field. Especially the symbiosis with Oorticium drew his attention. In 1939-1940 he served as captain in the Regiment Grenadiers. During the war he performed much biochemical work on foodprocessing, on oxidative enzymes, on the production of Provitamin A and on the nutritive value of palmitates and stearates. He was imprisoned, for a short time, by the German police but fortunately returned safe and sound. After the war he was put in charge of a specialist-Nutrition Team of the Netherlands Red Cross and worked for nine months in Java. Apart from much organisatory work he prepared a successful baby food from milkpowder and developed various biochemical methods. Mter a short period with Unilever in Holland the "call of the east" became too strong and DERX joined the staff of the Buitenzorg Gardens as Head of the Treub Laboratory. Amongst many things he did there, a most outstanding discovery is that of an acid resistant, nitrogen-fixing aerobe, Beijerinckia, which organism, strangely enough, seems to occur exclusively in the tropics. In 1948 he became a correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. Repatriated in 1950, he worked for a few happy years on microbiological problems, as advisor for the Royal Dutch Shell Co. 8
Series A
108
In his organo-chemical preparations, in the growing of plants and microbes, DERX had "catalytic fingers". The extreme range of his interest never detracted from the thoroughness and originality with which he attacked the problems. He remained faithful, throughout his life, to these problems. In his last years he studied cyclic compounds again the "Schardinger dextrins", produced by Bacillus macerans. In Buitenzorg he discovered that diacetyl is a component of the flower scent of a Fagraea. With his penetrating eyes, with his fertile mind, he must have had many wonderful experiences. As a scientist he remained comparatively unknown, and he received little public acclaim. But well he may have quoted his beloved PAUL VALERY: "si on est quelqu'un, on n'a pas besoin d'etre quelque chose"
HENRI GEORGE DERX
t
(14 SEPTEMBER 1894-15 AUGUSTUS 1953) BY
L. G. M. BAAS BECKING (Summary of a contribution published in Series C, 57, No 2 of these Proceedings)
His career was, over a wide range of disciplines, that of a "master of all trades". Born from a line of colonial servants, DERX spent his boyhood in Java and remained inspired, until his death, by the greatness of tropical nature. His studies at the Technical University of Delft made him into a first rate organic chemist. Inspired by his teacher, Professor J. BoESEKEN, he became the discoverer, in 1922, of the spatial structure of cyclic ring systems. After his marriage to CLAIRE TROUBAT from Pau, France, DERX accepted a position as industrial chemist at Calve, Delft. In this period, collaborating with A. J. KLUYVER and C. B. VAN NrEL, he found himself as a biologist. He clarified the mechanism of the oxidative breakdown of fats by moulds, he took part in the discovery of diacetyl in the butter aroma. He was the discoverer of heterothallism in Penicillium and developed methods for the isolation of the "ballistic yeasts"; the Sporobolomycetes. After the fusion of Calve with Lever Brothers (later Unilever) DERX had little chance for scientific work outside the technical realm. He started to grow and to study Orchids and became an authority in this field. Especially the symbiosis with Oorticium drew his attention. In 1939-1940 he served as captain in the Regiment Grenadiers. During the war he performed much biochemical work on foodprocessing, on oxidative enzymes, on the production of Provitamin A and on the nutritive value of palmitates and stearates. He was imprisoned, for a short time, by the German police but fortunately returned safe and sound. After the war he was put in charge of a specialist-Nutrition Team of the Netherlands Red Cross and worked for nine months in Java. Apart from much organisatory work he prepared a successful baby food from milkpowder and developed various biochemical methods. Mter a short period with Unilever in Holland the "call of the east" became too strong and DERX joined the staff of the Buitenzorg Gardens as Head of the Treub Laboratory. Amongst many things he did there, a most outstanding discovery is that of an acid resistant, nitrogen-fixing aerobe, Beijerinckia, which organism, strangely enough, seems to occur exclusively in the tropics. In 1948 he became a correspondent of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences. Repatriated in 1950, he worked for a few happy years on microbiological problems, as advisor for the Royal Dutch Shell Co. 8
Series A
108
In his organo-chemical preparations, in the growing of plants and microbes, DERX had "catalytic fingers". The extreme range of his interest never detracted from the thoroughness and originality with which he attacked the problems. He remained faithful, throughout his life, to these problems. In his last years he studied cyclic compounds again the "Schardinger dextrins", produced by Bacillus macerans. In Buitenzorg he discovered that diacetyl is a component of the flower scent of a Fagraea. With his penetrating eyes, with his fertile mind, he must have had many wonderful experiences. As a scientist he remained comparatively unknown, and he received little public acclaim. But well he may have quoted his beloved PAUL VALERY: "si on est quelqu'un, on n'a pas besoin d'etre quelque chose"