Background
He was the son of Royal Netherlands Geographical Society chairman Pieter Johannes Veth.
He was the son of Royal Netherlands Geographical Society chairman Pieter Johannes Veth.
He studied engineering at technical colleges in Hanover and Stuttgart. The geographical society organized an 1887-1889 expedition to Central Sumatra with the objective to map the Hari River Basin. lieutenant was led by Johannes Schouw Santvoort (Royal Dutch Navy) with Veth, Johannes François Snelleman (Zoologist) and Arend Ludolf van Hasselt (ethnographer) taking part.
Veth was responsible for photographs and mapping.
Snelleman wrote a book about the expedition.