KLUYVER AS PROFESSOR; CHRONICLES OF THE LABORATORY 



also constituted an important part of the laboratory team, indispens- 

 able for the proper conduct of the experimental work. And they, in 

 turn, were just as appreciative of Kluyver's humane and often fatherly 

 guidance as was the scientific staff. 



Thus, despite the inevitable turn-over inherent in a university insti- 

 tution, a community had grown up that was deeply attached to the 

 Delft laboratory. But no one manifested a greater attachment than he 

 who was the center of this community. 



The rapidity with which Kluyver had made himself familiar with 

 the problems of microbiology, and the mastery he had exhibited, had 

 not failed to make a deep impression in scientific circles. Small wonder, 

 then, that other universities cast covetous glances in the direction of the 

 Delft scientist whenever there was a vacancy in some allied field. As 

 early as 1926 Kluyver received an offer to occupy a chair for medical 

 biochemistry that was being created at Leiden University. 



For a long time he weighed the alternatives : Holland's most ancient 

 university had formerly fascinated him, and a close contact with many 

 medical colleagues would undoubtedly have been advantageous to 

 his work ; but he also realized that he would miss in Leiden all that he 

 had built up in Delft. Thus he decided in favour of Delft. At about the 

 same time he also declined a call of a different sort, viz., the director- 

 ship of the Department of Agriculture in the Netherlands' East Indies. 



Some compensation for his loyalty to the Technological University 

 was that students from other Dutch universities now came to join the 

 Delft students in his laboratory. This had been made possible by a 

 new provision whereby certain departments in these universities had 

 agreed to accept microbiology as taught in Delft in fulfilment of the 

 requirements for a minor subject. Soon thereafter the first two Leiden 

 biologists arrived : two girl students who had decided to complete their 

 studies under Kluyver, and who soon found themselves completely 

 at home in the new milieu. Later they were succeeded by many others. 

 Kluyver was always greatly appreciative of this cooperation, especial- 

 ly from Leiden University, where he also served on examining com- 

 mittees; the most important single reason is probably that he thus 

 found the scientific scope and atmosphere of his laboratory materially 

 invigorated. 



During the 'thirties' Kluyver was once more faced with a similar 

 dilemma as that which had confronted him a decade earlier. After the 



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