Karel Heyne


Karel Heyne was a Dutch botanist, known for his comprehensive handbook on the useful plants of the Dutch East Indies ; this was the first such handbook and became a standard reference.
Towards the end of the 19th century, he settled on Java in the former Dutch East Indies. In 1900, at the age of 23, he started working for the Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij. He married Wilhelmina Louise Visser in 1903, and they had two sons, the first in 1905 and the second in 1906. In January 1906, Heyne was appointed chief curator of the Museum voor Economische Botanie in Buitenzorg by Melchior Treub, the then director of kebun [Raya Bogor|'s Lands Plantentuin] in Buitenzorg. In January 1920 he married Ida van Oorschot. In 1926, Heyne resigned as curator and in April 1927 he repatriated to the Netherlands. He and his wife went to live in Bennekom, where he bought a large house.

Selected publications