Background
Blaauw was born in Amsterdam to Cornelis Blaauw and Gesina Clasina Zwart, and studied at Leiden University and the University of Groningen, obtaining his doctorate at the latter in 1946.
Astronomer university professor
Blaauw was born in Amsterdam to Cornelis Blaauw and Gesina Clasina Zwart, and studied at Leiden University and the University of Groningen, obtaining his doctorate at the latter in 1946.
Master of Science, U. Leiden, Netherlands, 1941; Doctor of Science, U. Groningen, Netherlands, 1946; Doctor of Science (honorary), University Besancon, France, 1961.
In 1948, he was appointed an associate professor at Leiden. In the 1950s he worked a few years at the Yerkes Observatory, before returning to Europe in 1957 to become director of the Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in Groningen. Blaauw was closely involved in the founding of the European Southern Observatory, and was its general director from 1970 to 1975.
In 1975, he returned to the Netherlands, becoming a full professor at Leiden, until his retirement in 1981. From 1976 to 1979, he served as president of the International Astronomical Union. He chaired the committee for assigning scientific priorities for the observing programme of the astrometric satellite Hipparcos.
His research has involved star formation, the motions of star clusters and stellar associations, and distance scale. His main contributions are the explanation of the origin of stars that move with high velocity in our galaxy and the description of star formation in associations. In 1989, he was awarded the Bruce Medal.
In 1997, the University of Groningen instituted a Blaauw chair and Blaauw lecture in his honour. The asteroid 2145 Blaauw and the Blaauw Observatory are named after him. He died in 2010 in the city of Groningen.
Asteroid 2145 Blaauw is named for him.
(This History has its origin in a suggestion, made in Sept...)
Chairman advisory board Museum for Arts and History, Assen, Netherlands, since 1980. Member American Academy Arts and Sciences, American Astronomical Society (honorary), Astronomical Society Pacific (recipient Bruce Gold medal 1989), Royal Netherlands Academy ofScis., Holland Society Sciences, Royal Danish Academy of Sciences, Royal Belgian Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Upsala, Academia Europea, Royal Astronomical Society (associate member).
Married Alida Henderika van Muylwyk, September 6, 1941. Children: Cornelis, Jeanette W., Bine, ElisabethGesina.