Cornelis Jacobus Swierstra (22 October 1873,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

—11 March 1952,

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

) was a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

-born South African

entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...

. Swierstra studied entomology at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

. He moved to South Africa in 1894, and was employed at

Transvaal Museum The Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, formerly the Transvaal Museum, is a natural history museum situated in Pretoria, South Africa. It is located on Paul Kruger Street, between Visagie and Minnaar Streets, opposite the Pretoria City ...

from 1896. By 1909 he was assistant-director, and in 1921 he followed Herman Gottfried Breijer as director of the museum. In 1936 he was elected first president of the South African Museums Association. In 1900, Swierstra married Niesje Kwak, with whom he had two children, and in 1912 Anthonia Johanna Franken, with whom he had four children.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Swierstra, Cornelis Jacobus 1873 births 1952 deaths Dutch entomologists South African entomologists Dutch emigrants Immigrants to the South African Republic Scientists from Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni