Gillis, Jan Baptist (1893-1978)

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Source:Liber memorialis 1913-1960. Deel II Faculteit der geneeskunde, Gent, 1960, 170.

Chemist and historian of science, born in Arlon on 8 August 1893 and died in Oostend (Oostende) on 25 August 1978.

Biography

Jan Gillis was born in Arlon on 8 August 1893 as the son of Pauline De Keghel and the military doctor Louis Henri. He spent most of his childhood in Ghent with his maternal grandfather, a Flemish-minded physician. The young Gillis studied at the Atheneum, first in Ghent and later in Antwerp. In 1913 he became a candidate in the natural sciences. He fought in the First World War and was wounded in Wespelaar. After being hospitalised in an Antwerp hospital, he managed to cross the Dutch border without being captured. In the Netherlands, the refugee studied chemistry in Professor Smits' laboratory at the city university of Amsterdam. Here he also taught physics and chemistry. In 1917, Gillis was called back to the front. In 1918 he graduated from the officers' school. At the same time he succeeded in taking his final exams for the doctorate in chemistry at the special Belgian Central Examination Commission in Le Havre. After this, he went on to work at the Laboratory of Botany under Camille De Bruyne, where he obtained his doctorate in natural sciences.

Gillis' academic career started with his appointment as work leader in the laboratory of Frederic Swarts at the State University of Ghent. This chemist was especially known for his synthesis of organic fluorides. In 1923, he was appointed lecturer at the State University of Ghent (RUG), where he was in charge of the course of analytical chemistry, in both Dutch and French. Gradually, his teaching assignment was extended to include courses on analytical electrochemistry, quantitative analytical chemistry, the analysis of mineral constituents, organic analysis, pharmaceutical inorganic chemistry and microchemistry. He also taught method theory in chemistry. In 1932 Gillis was appointed full professor at the Faculty of Science of the RUG. From 1936 to 1937 he was secretary of the faculty and from 1937 to 1938 dean. From 1951 to 1952 he was secretary of the Academic Council and the following year was appointed Rector of the RUG. He also held the position of Chairman of the Board of Governors. He was granted emiritus-status in 1961.

In 1938, Gillis was one of the founding members of the [The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium|Koninklijke Vlaamsche Academie voor Wetenschappen, Letteren en Schoone Kunsten (KVAB)]] [Royal Flemish Academy of Sciences, Letters and Fine Arts]. In 1944 he became director of the Class of Sciences and in 1977 an honorary member. Through his patronage, the J. Gillisprijs was established. He served on the committees that awarded the J. Gillisprijs and the MacLeod Prize. He also was the president of the National Committee for pure and applied Chemistry for some time. Gillis was one of the initiators of the Zuidnederlands Genootschap voor de Geschiedenis der Geneeskunde, Wiskunde, Natuurwetenschappen en Techniek [South Netherlands Society for the History of Medicine, Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology]. He was closely involved with Dodonaea, a scientific, biological society founded at the RUG on the initiative of Julius MacLeod. Membership of this society had declined sharply after the First World War. Gillis took on the role of secretary of this society and succeeded in further developing it by, among other things, organising activities. In 1938 Gillis was appointed member of the Genootschap tot Bevordering van Natuur-, Genees- en Heelkunde in Amsterdam. In the same year he became a member of the committee Réactions et des Réactifs analytiques nouveaux of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and in 1949 he became its chairman. In 1939, together with a few others, he founded the Koninklijke Vlaamse Chemische Vereniging[Royal Flemish Chemical Society]. He was elected its first general chairman, an office he held for four years, before becoming an honorary member.
In 1949, Gillis was co-founder of the international journal Analytica Chemica Acta.

Work

At Smits' laboratory, Gillis studied the homogeneous and the heterogeneous weights. He founded a laboratory at the University of Ghent that would develop into the Institute of Analytical Chemistry. In his laboratory, several reagents were developed by the formation of organic complexes of reaction with metals, e.g. phenyfluoron on germanium. He devoted himself to trace analysis by micro and ultra-micromethods, as in the case of contamination by mercury vapours in the laboratory and in industry. This led to several publications on the sensitivity limits of analytical reactions. Gillis also worked in the field of spectral analysis as well.

Besides chemistry, Gillis was interested in biochemical and biological questions. He did research on the determination of cations in extracts of beet seeds and beet roots and copper-iron determinations in blood serum with new methods, designed in his laboratory. He was also concerned with the pharmaceutical problems and analytical methods of the Belgian Pharmacopoeia. He also showed interest in the methodology of analytical chemistry and its history.

Gillis undertook several study trips: in 1939 to Uppsala as a guest of Henrik Lundegardh to learn about spectrochemistry and in the US about microchemistry. He received several prizes for his research. In 1920 he became a laureate of the travel grant competition. In 1945, he was awarded the Lavoisier Medal by the Société Chimique de France for his work on the Réactifs pour l'analyse qualitative minérale. In 1946, he received the Agathon De Potter Prize. In 1949 he received the prize of the 22nd Congreso International de Quimica Industrial in Barcelona. In 1957, he received an honorary doctorate from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Geneva.

History of science
For many years, Gillis was a member of the Permanent Commission for the History of Sciences. There he devoted himself to the establishment of a Museum of the History of Science. In 1950 he was one of the founding members of the Circle for the History of Pharmacy in the Benelux. After his retirement, he devoted himself to the history of science. He wrote several studies on George Sarton, Leo Hendrik Baekeland and August Kekulé. He was awarded the Gemlin-Beilstein memorial plaque in 1965 for his work on Kekulé. He was the keynote speaker at the first Symposium on the History of Science in 1975. Gillis was closely involved in the organisation of this symposium.

Publications

• List with publications Catalogus Ugent consulted 07/07/2010 at 9h00.

Bibliography

• Simons, W.J., "Gillis Jan Baptista", In: Nationaal Biografisch Woordenboek, vol. 16, Brussel: Paleis der Academiën, 2002, kol. 293-304.
• De Ley, J. "In Memoriam Dr. Jan Baptist Gillis", In: Jaarboek 1978, Brussel: KVAB, p. 377-381.