BornRotterdam, the Netherlands, 25 September 1896

DiedJohannesburg, South Africa, 30 March 1974

During his career of over 30 years in South Africa, Willem van den Bos discovered approximately 3,000 new visual double stars and likewise computed the orbits of almost 100 double stars, carrying the work well into his retirement until forced to stop by declining health.

Van den Bos entered the University of Leiden in 1913, but his studies were interrupted by war. He rose to the rank of lieutenant in the Netherlands Coast Artillery. Afterwards, Van den Bos resumed his studies at a time when such illustrious personalities as  Albert Einstein, Paul Ehrenfest,  Hendrik Lorentz,  Willem de Sitter, and  Ejnar Hertzsprung were faculty members. In 1921, he became a member of the Leiden Observatory staff. His 1925 doctoral dissertation was on the subject of binary stars.  Robert Innes, director of the Union (later Republic) Observatory, Johannesburg, South Africa, offered Van den Bos a short-term...