Adolph Cornelis van Bruggen

Adolph Cornelis 'Dolf' van Bruggen (9 July 1929 – 3 June 2016) was a Dutch malacologist, entomologist, and botanist.

His interest in the tropics and tropical Africa has dominated his broad scientific interest for more than 50 years now.

He was an expert especially in the land snail families Streptaxidae, Achatinidae and Maizaniidae.

he had authored some 655 scientific publications.

Adolph Cornelis van Bruggen was born on 9 July 1929, the eldest son of A.C. van Bruggen, Sr. and A.C.G. van Bruggen-van Eyk Bijleveld.

He spent his youth in The Hague.

Natural history and particularly animals always caught his attention.

His father was a high-ranked civil servant at the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science.

The start of van Bruggen's malacological career can be dated back to 1948, when he became a member of the Dutch Malacological Society (NMV).

His first malacological publication, in Dutch, appeared in 1948 in the Dutch journal De Levende Natuur; a short note reporting a find of the marine bivalve Anomia ephippium, an uncommon species in the Netherlands.

His very first publication had appeared earlier in the same year in the same journal; it reported a sighting of seals and a horse mackerel on a Dutch beach.

It was also in Leiden that van Bruggen met his wife, Wenda van Bruggen-Gorter.

She became painfully aware of his malacological interests when one day on their honeymoon in Switzerland, they were returning home late in the evening and van Bruggen found a beautiful specimen of the slug Limax cinereoniger that he wanted for his collection.

However, not having any glass vials with him (plastic bags were unknown in those days) he asked to use Wenda's evening bag to bring the animal home.

The Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie was administered by that ministry at the time, and when he graduated from the Gymnasium Haganum in The Hague in 1949, his father introduced him to Dr. Carel Octavius van Regteren Altena (1907–1976), curator of Mollusca at the museum, who stimulated his interest in malacology.

At Leiden University van Bruggen studied systematic botany, animal ecology and systematic zoology.

Originally intending to depart to the Dutch East Indies after his studies, this became impossible when the former Dutch colony achieved independence, as Indonesia, on 27 December 1949.

Since van Bruggen had a firm interest in the tropics, the couple decided to move to Africa instead.

He was editor of the Correspondentieblad (1951–1953) and, after a short interruption, again from 1954 to 1956.

With the Dutch Malacological Society (Nederlandse Malacologische Vereniging, NMV), he served as Secretary (1953–1956), interim President (1970–1972) and Treasurer (1983–1986) on the Board.

In 1956 he graduated, after three years as an assistant to Prof. Dr. Hilbrand Boschma (1893–1976), the director of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, who taught Systematic Zoology at Leiden University.

They sailed to South Africa, stopping on their way at the remote Atlantic island of St Helena, in May 1957.

In South Africa, van Bruggen had accepted a job at the Ministry of Agriculture in Pretoria.

There he was charged with the study of insects and the problems they caused in warehouses.

After three years he accepted the position of Marine Biologist and Curator at the newly erected Oceanarium in Port Elizabeth.

Shortly afterwards, he accepted a position as curator at the Natal Museum in Pietermaritzburg.

Both van Bruggens worked at the museum from 1962 to 1966; she as a librarian and his personal assistant in the field.

They frequently went out for fieldwork, making collection trips as far north as Malawi and Zambia.

During his African years, in addition to his work on insects and snails, van Bruggen expanded into work on mammals and birds.

Contacts with field staff of South African National Parks brought a new focus on nature conservation, and stimulated an interest in zoos.

In 1963, at the 125th anniversary of Artis Zoo in Amsterdam, van Bruggen sent a number of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), as a gift from Dutch biologists working in South Africa.

At the beginning of 1966, van Bruggen accepted an invitation to return to the Netherlands to teach in the department of Systematic Zoology at Leiden University, invited van Bruggen to teach at that institution.

At Leiden University, van Bruggen taught undergraduates in Systematic Zoology.

Since 1968, he has been editor, then editor-in-chief, of Basteria, the scientific journal of NMV.

In 1969 he received his Ph.D. with the thesis '‘Studies on the land molluscs of Zululand with notes on the distribution of land molluscs in Southern Africa’'.

Although officially employed by the University, his actual place of work was a few minutes away at the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, where his supervisor was Prof. Dr Leo Brongersma, director of the museum.

Besides his work he devoted much time to various organizations.

He served as President of the 7th International Malacological Congress in Amsterdam in 1977, organized on behalf of Unitas Malacologica, the international organisation of malacologists.

From 1989 to 1999, he was chairman of the Netherlands Commission for International Nature Conservation, also serving as editor of its communications.

He was elected Honorary Member of the Society in 1999.