Abstract
THE cause of biological sciences as linked to the evolution of man has sustained a severe blow in the death of Dr. Maria Anna Van Herwerden on January 26 at Utrecht, where she had long taught in the University in the Department of Embryology, Cytology and Genetics. From its early days oshe was a leader in the International Federation of Eugenic Organisations, as well as being one of the first supporters of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population Problems, and had a wide circle of friends in Great Britain. In Holland her foresight and untiring work contributed much to building up the Central Committee of societies working in the field of human genetics, which resulted in the foundation last year of the Netherlands Institute for Research in Human Genetics and Race-biology. Mensch en Maatschappij, No. 2, says of her: “She was a modest woman, never putting herself forward, without self-seeking, simply serving the cause for which she stood, with great enthusiasm and devotion; her strong will and sense of duty found her always ready with help and advice. Her counsels always carried the greatest weight, founded as they were on wide knowledge illumined by clear insight and judgment and presented sympathetically as the outcome of a benevolent spirit in clear-cut elegant form … the Sciences of Human Genetics and Eugenics have lost their most outstanding exponent in our country in the passing of this courageous and talented woman.”
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Dr. Maria A. Van Herwerden. Nature 133, 677 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133677a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133677a0