Michael Strang Robinson (1910–1999) was Keeper of Pictures at the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unit ...

, London, England. He was an expert on the paintings of Willem van de Velde, the elder and Willem van de Velde, the younger..Obituary, ''

Mariner's Mirror ''The Mariner's Mirror'' is the quarterly academic journal of the Society for Nautical Research in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1911 and is abstracted and indexed by Scopus. It is published in partnership with Taylor & Francis. The '' ...

'' 87 (2001), p. 387.

Biography

Robinson was born in Hamble,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England on 20 April 1910. His father, Gregory Robinson, was a painter of seascapes and a founder of the

Society for Nautical Research The Society for Nautical Research is a British society that conducts research and sponsors projects related to maritime history worldwide. Founded in 1910, the Society initially encouraged research into seafaring, ship-building, the language and c ...

, of which Michael Robinson later became honorary vice-president. As a child, he was a frequent sailor, and as a student at

London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

, he took a job cataloguing prints for the

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Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwic ...

. He was hired by the National Maritime Museum in 1934. Robinson joined the

King's Royal Rifle Corps The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United S ...

in 1930, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

he served in the

Special Boat Section The Special Boat Service (SBS) is the special forces unit of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. The SBS can trace its origins back to the Second World War when the Army Special Boat Section was formed in 1940. After the Second World War, the Roya ...

of the British Royal Navy. He was captured in

Leros Leros ( el, Λέρος) is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese in the southern Aegean Sea. It lies (171 nautical miles) from Athens's port of Piraeus, from which it can be reached by an 9-hour ferry ride or by a 45-minute flight f ...

, and eventually taken to

Stalag IV-B Stalag IV-B was one of the largest prisoner-of-war camps in Germany during World War II. Stalag is an abbreviation of the German ''Stammlager'' ("Main Camp"). It was located north-east of the town of Mühlberg in the Prussian Province of ...

, where he started to learn

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

. Returning to the National Maritime Museum after the war, Robinson became head of department in 1947. He died in London on 24 December 1999.

Published works

* ''A pageant of the sea: the Macpherson collection of maritime prints and drawings in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich'' (1950) * ''Van de Velde drawings: a catalogue of drawings in the National Maritime Museum made by the Elder and the Younger Willem van de Velde'' (1958) * ''The paintings of the Willem van de Veldes: a catalogue of the paintings of the Elder and Younger Willem van de Velde'' (1990)

Awards and honours

Robinson became an MBE in 1959. He was awarded the

Caird Medal The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

of the

in 1985. He became a member of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) 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 ...

in 1990.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Michael S 1910 births 1999 deaths British art historians British art curators Special Boat Service personnel 20th-century British historians