François Haverschmidt (21 June 1906 – 28 April 1987) was a Dutch judge who served in

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and also took an interest in birds, writing a major work ''The Birds of Surinam'' (1968). Haverschmidt was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

to François and Catharina Jacoba Johanna Verbroeck. His grandfather François Haverschmidt wrote under the pseudonym Piet Paaltjens. As a young boy he was part of a birdwatchers group along with his friend Jan Verwey (1899–1981). In 1924 he became a member of the and published his first article in the journal '' Ardea'' in 1925. Haverschmidt studied law at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, a ...

and worked as a clerk in the courts of

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

(1936–1938),

Heerlen Heerlen (; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeast of the Netherlands. It is the third largest settlement proper in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Measured as municipality, it is the f ...

(1938–1941) and

Leeuwarden Leeuwarden (; ; ; ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in Friesland, Netherlands, with a population of 127,073 (2023). It is the provincial capital and seat of the Provin ...

(1941–1946) before moving to

Paramaribo, Suriname Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

as a judge. While serving in Suriname, he found that despite work done by the Penard brothers and Charles Chubb, there were great gaps in knowledge. So he began to make collections and sent them to museums, initially to

John Todd Zimmer John Todd Zimmer (February 28, 1889 in Bridgeport, Ohio – January 6, 1957 in White Plains, New York) was a leading American ornithologist. A graduate of University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he became interested in both entomology and ornithology. Fro ...

at the

American Museum of Natural History The American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) is a natural history museum on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Located in Theodore Roosevelt Park, across the street from Central Park, the museum complex comprises 21 interconn ...

but after Zimmer's death in 1957, he sent specimens to

Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie The Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (National Museum of Natural History) was a museum on the Rapenburg in Leiden, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1820 by Royal Decree from a merger of several existing collections including Temminck's own ...

in Leiden. He sent nearly 9800 specimens over his lifetime. He also began to put together his notes and this resulted in the 1968 book, ''The Birds of Surinam'' with art by Paul Barruel. It was revised by

Gerlof Fokko Mees Gerlof Fokko Mees (16 June 1926 – 31 March 2013) was a Dutch ichthyology, ichthyologist, ornithology, ornithologist and museum curator. During 1946 to 1949 he took part as a conscript in the military actions to reestablish rule in the Dutch East ...

in 1994. Haverschmidt became chief justice of the Supreme Court and served as interim governor of Suriname on three occasions. For his service he was made Knight of the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

and Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haverschmidt, François 1906 births 1987 deaths Dutch ornithologists Knights of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Officers of the Order of Orange-Nassau Surinamese judges 20th-century Surinamese lawyers 20th-century Dutch judges