curator physicist university professor
De Haas was born in Lisse, a small town near Leiden, Netherlands. He was the son of Albertus de Haas, principal of the Teacher’s College in Middelburg, and Maria Efting. In 1910, he married Geertruida Luberta Lorentz, the eldest daughter of Nobel laureate physicist Hendrik Lorentz.
After completing high school in Middelburg, de Haas initially pursued paralegal studies beginning in 1895. However, after completing two parts of the examinations and working in a lawyer’s office, he decided to change his career path and study physics. He passed the entrance examinations and began studying physics at the University of Leiden in 1900 under distinguished physicists Heike Kamerlingh Onnes and Johannes Petrus Kuenen.
De Haas earned his doctorate in 1912 under Kamerlingh Onnes with a thesis titled Measurements on the Compressibility of Hydrogen.
Following his doctorate, de Haas worked as a researcher at the Physikalische Reichsanstalt in Berlin. He then returned to the Netherlands where he held positions as a schoolteacher in Deventer, conservator at the Teylers Museum in Haarlem, and physics professor at Delft Technical School and the University of Groningen.
In 1925, de Haas became professor and co-head of the Laboratory of Physics at Leiden University, succeeding his mentor Kamerlingh Onnes. His leadership and research at Leiden helped establish the university as a center for low-temperature physics.
In 1942, during World War II, he was forced to resign from his academic post. After the war ended in 1945, he was reinstated. He retired in 1948.
Some of the equipment used in his low-temperature research, such as an electromagnet from circa 1930, is preserved and displayed at the Boerhaave Museum in Leiden, highlighting the historical importance of his scientific work.
Discovered and characterized several fundamental physical effects including the Shubnikov–de Haas effect, de Haas–van Alphen effect, and Einstein–de Haas effect.
Became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1922.
Played a leading role in developing low-temperature physics research in the Netherlands.
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
De Haas was known for his dedication to scientific rigor and education. His career reflects a blend of research, teaching, and museum curation, showing a broad commitment to the advancement and dissemination of physics.
