Jan Buisman

Jan Buisman (19 February 1925 – 21 November 2024) was a Dutch historical geographer. He described the weather for almost every year since the year 763.

Biography
Buisman grew up in Borculo. He studied at the  in The Hague. He was a teacher for several years. Later he started studying geography and history in Amsterdam. In 1968 he obtained his doctoral degree (nowadays Master of Science/Master of Arts) in historical geography. Buisman also went back teaching and was a teacher for 38 years. He wrote around twenty books.

After his retirement, he started his major historical work. Using many different sources he described the weather conditions in almost every year from the year 763 onwards in the Netherlands, Belgium and beyond. This extensive publication named Duizend jaar wind en water in de Lage landen (translated: A Thousand Years of Wind and Water in the Low Countries), should eventually consist of eight volumes. Seven volumes have been published, the eighth was in preparation in 2021. The book series is published in collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute in De Bilt by publisher Van Wijnen. Next to that in March 2011, an additional book was published with wheater disaster or notable wheater events entitled Extreem weer! Een canon van weergaloze winters & zinderende zomers, hagel & hozen, stormen & watersnoden (translaged: Extreme weather! A canon of unparalleled winters & scorching summers, hail & downpours, storms & floods.)

Over the years, Buisman has received several awards. In 1997 Buisman received the Minnaert Prize from the Union of the Netherlands-Flanders for his works. Buisman became knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2011. In 2015 he received the Dr. J. van der Bilt Prize from the . In 2017, he was awarded the  from Beatrix of the Netherlands at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam for his works as a weather historian.

Buisman died in The Hague on 21 November 2024, at the age of 99 years old.

References

Category:Dutch educators
Category:Geographers
Category:Dutch historians
Category:Meteorologists
Category:1925 births
Category:2024 deaths
Category:Writers from Gelderland