August A. Pulle. 1878-1955

On the 28th of February 1955 Prof. Dr A. A. Pulle died at Utrecht after a long and painful illness. August Adriaan Pulle was born on the 10th of January 1878 at Arnhem, where he also attended the primary and the secundary school. During the later years at the high school his interest in plants was awakened, and by numerous excursions in the neighbourhood, which is well-known for its varied vegetation, he obtained a good knowledge of the Dutch flora. However, he was at that time even more attracted by chemistry, and when he had finished the high school he thought that a university study of pharmacy would best suit his leanings. As the certificate of the type of high school he had attended gave at that time no access to the university, he had to qualify for the latter by submitting himself to a special examination in the classical languages. After a one-year preparatory course he passed this examination, and in 1897 he entered the Utrecht University as a pharmaceutical student. In 1899 he obtained the B.Sc. degree. In the meantime, however, his interest in botany was once more stirred into activity, especially by the contact with the young and enthusiastic botany professor. Dr F. A. F .C. Went, and he decided to discontinue his pharmaceutical study, and to take up botany as a major subject. To this end he had to submit himself once more to a supplementary examination, this time in botany and zoology. Shortly afterwards he became assistent to professor Went. On the 11th of September 1902 he obtained the M.Sc. degree, and a few days later he departed for Suriname to participate in the Saramacca Expedition. In 1903 he returned with a large amount of herbarium material and with a good deal of experience regarding tropical vegetation. This first confrontation with a tropical flora made a lasting impression on his mind, and henceforth the study of tropical vegetation and especially that of the flora of Suriname became his main scientific concern.