FROM YOUTH TO PROFESSOR 



the main elements of the solution in the margin of the paper, while 

 making no bones about showing that he thought us far from bright. 

 The presence of Mrs. Kluyver created in that room an atmosphere of 

 order and kindliness that has remained with me to this day, half a 

 century later. 



The final examinations became a great success. In those days they 

 were not handled in and by the school, but administered by a large 

 board which, in 1905, met in the city of Gouda. At the time this place 

 could be reached from Leiden only by a combined railway and horse- 

 drawn tramcar voyage. The trip to, and the sojourn in Gouda were a 

 very special event for the three of us, the third one being C. Punt, who 

 later became known as Kluyver's partner in the famous tennis double. 



Outwardly Albert Jan was the image of his father, distinguished- 

 looking, though a little less formal; and from his father he probably 

 inherited also his uncommonly sharp intellect. But the charm that he 

 radiated and that affected every one he met; his capacity for ingen- 

 uously paying close attention to every human being; these he owed 

 to his mother. And that was not the smaller part of the gift of grace 

 that had been granted him in the form of his excellent parents. 



W. E. v. W. 

 STUDENT AND ASSISTANT 

 I 905-1916 



In September, 1905, Kluyver registered as a first-year chemistry stu- 

 dent at the Technological University in Delft. Our first meeting oc- 

 curred during the hazing days, in the apartment of P. J. van Voorst 

 Vader, an older student, living at Oude Delft 128a. J. P. Valkema 

 Blouw, another older student, was at the piano singing Speenhoff dit- 

 ties which were much in vogue at the time. A few freshmen, among 

 them Kluyver and I, had been herded under the table; here, in some- 

 what tenebrous circumstances and crouching position, began our 

 acquaintance that was to lead to a life-long friendship. 



From 1905 till 1907 Kluyver resided in Delft; I noticed compar- 

 atively little of him. After his sophomore year he moved to Leiden 

 where for some years he roomed in the 'Pancras House', Hooglandse 

 Kerkgracht 2 1 , together with three students at Leiden University who 

 studied chemistry, medicine, and theology, respectively. 



During those years Kluyver, though a member of the Delft student 



