Kesteloot, Jacob-Lodewijk (1778-1852)

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Kesteloot, Jacob-Lodewijk (1778-1852)

Physician and literary scholar born on 9 October 1778 in Nieuwpoort and died on 5 July 1852 in Ghent.

Biography

Jacob-Lodewijk or Jacques-Louis Kesteloot was born in Nieuwpoort on 9 October 1778. His father was a ship's captain and his mother, a linen merchant, was temporarily responsible for the administration of the contents of the recollete monastery.[1]
He started his education with Abbot Van den Bussche, the priest of the church in Nieuwpoort. He gave the young Kesteloot singing lessons and taught him the classical languages. In 1793 they both left Nieuwpoort and moved to Ghent. In 1794 Kesteloot started his secondary education at the Augustijnencollege in Ghent, where he began to take an interest in the natural sciences. Subsequently, he worked for three years as an apprentice in pharmacy de Roo in his native town, where he learned medicine and botany.[2]
In 1789, Jacob-Lodewijk Kesteloot left the country to escape his military service.[3] He pursued a medical career and moved to Leiden, where he enrolled in the university's medical faculty on 2 November 1798. He later entered the city's military hospital. After defending a dissertation on dysentery[4], he was promoted doctor of medicine, surgery and gynaecology on 31 October 1800.
He moved to Rotterdam and then to Vlaardingen, a city infected with typhus, and finally to The Hague. Kesteloot is known not only for his practical knowledge of medicine and surgery, but also for his knowledge of literature, history and Dutch.[5]
He went to Paris in 1806-1807 where he attended lessons from various masters at the hospital. He kept abreast of methods of examination and treatment of the sick. He met many scientists of the time, but he did not keep any scientific correspondence.
With some friends he organised a society for the promotion of the vaccine. He promoted vaccines and translated various books to popularise them. During the reunion of Holland with the French Empire, he was appointed regent of the poor Catholics of The Hague, a position he held until 1817.[6] Louis Bonaparte commanded Kesteloot and two other scientists to draw up a plan for an institution for the Netherlands similar to the Institut de France. All three were appointed as members of this institution, but Kesteloot refused. He was also given the task of inspecting charitable institutions, particularly civil hospices and Catholic schools.
Kesteloot participated in the French edition of the Bulletin littéraire et bibliographique which is a complement to the periodical publications of the Schouwburg van in- en uitlandsche letter- en huishoudkunde. On this occasion, he became acquainted with Anton-Reinhard Falck.
Thanks to the support of the latter, Kesteloot became professor of medicine, pharmaceutics, chronic diseases, forensic medicine and hygiene at the Faculty of Medicine of Ghent University in 1817. His inaugural speech testifies to his interest for the mother tongue (i.e. native language) as an instrument of civilisation.[7] In 1825-1826 and 1834-1835 he was elected rector of the university.[8] He was made a member of the academy on 3 July 1816, when the Académie royale des Sciences et Belles-Lettres was re-established. He was a member of a number of associations in France and Holland as well. In 1845 he became a member of the Dutch Literature Association (Maatschappij van Nederlandsche Letterkunde) in Leiden. [9]
In 1825, he participated in the foundation of a Dutch literary society in Ghent, Maatschappij van Nederlandsche taal- en letterkunde, under the patronage of the provincial governor and was appointed vice-president. This association was dissolved in 1830 after the independence of Belgium.[10]
In 1835, during the reorganisation of the universities, Kesteloot, against his will, was appointed emeritus at the University of Ghent because he was suspected of having friendly feelings towards the Dutch regime. For the fiftieth anniversary of Kesteloot's doctorate, on 30 October 1850, a medal was struck in the professor's honour as a token of appreciation by his former students and by Flemish writers for his talents.[11]
He died on 5 July 1852.

Works

Kesteloot's main works are lecture notes and Dutch translations of practical scientific works of his time. He translated Charles Chrétien Henri Marc's book la vaccine soumise aux simples lumières de la raison into Dutch.[12]
In 1809, following a trip to Paris, he published a foreword and notes concerning the discours ou compte rendu de l’Institut de France sur les progrès des sciences des lettres et des arts depuis 1789 jusqu’en 1808. The latter are mainly Dutch publications and translations. In 1813, he was exalted by the Hollandsche Maatschappij voor fraaije Kunsten en Wetenschappen (Amsterdam) for his eulogy of Boerhaave.[13]

Publications

Mémoire de l'Académie


Bibliography

  • BRANDEN, F. JOS. VAN DEN, FREDERIKS J.G., "Kesteloot (Jacob Lodewijk)", in Biographisch woordenboek der Noord- en Zuidnederlandsche letterkunde, 1888-1891.
  • LOISE, Ferd., "Kesteloot, Jacques-Louis", in Biographie Nationale, t. 10, Bruxelles: Bruylant-Christophe & Cie, imprimeurs-éditeurs, 1888-1889, Col. 696-705.
  • "Levensberigt van Jacob Lodewijk Kesteloot", in Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, 1853.
  • TER LAAN, K., "Kesteloot, Dr. J.L", in Letterkundig woordenboek voor Noord en Zuid, 1941.
  • "Notice sur Jacques-Louis Kesteloot", in Annuaire de l’Académie Royale des sciences, des lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, t. 18, Bruxelles : Hayez, 1852.
  • VAN DER AA, A.J., "Jacob Lodewijk Kesteloot", in Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden, t. 10, Haarlem, J. J. Brederode, 1862, p. 139-142.
  • VERSTRAETEN, C., "J.-L. Kesteloot", in Liber Memorialis. Notices Biographiques, t. 2, Gand, 1913, p. 411-418.


Notes

  1. ↑ LOISE, Ferd., "Kesteloot, Jacques-Louis", in Biographie Nationale, t. 10, Bruxelles: Bruylant-Christophe & Cie, imprimeurs-éditeurs, 1888-1889, col. 696.
  2. ↑ Levensberigt van Jacob Lodewijk Kesteloot, in Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, 1853, p.4
  3. ↑ VERSTRAETEN, C., "J.-L. Kesteloot", in Liber Memorialis. Notices Biographiques, t. 2, Gand, 1913, p. 411.
  4. ↑ KESTELOOT, Jacob-Lodewijk, Dissertatio medica inauguralis de dysenteria, quam in eruditorum examine submittit J.-L. Kesteloot, Neoport-Flandrus. Ad diem XXXI octobris MDCCC, Lugduni Batavorum, 1800.
  5. ↑ "Levensberigt van Jacob Lodewijk Kesteloot", in Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, 1853, p. 4.
  6. ↑ VERSTRAETEN, C., "J.-L. Kesteloot", in Liber Memorialis. Notices Biographiques, t. 2, Gand, 1913, p. 411.
  7. ↑ LOISE, Ferd., "Kesteloot, Jacques-Louis", in Biographie Nationale, t. 10, Bruxelles: Bruylant-Christophe & Cie, imprimeurs-éditeurs, 1888-1889, col. 701.
  8. ↑ VERSTRAETEN, C., "J.-L. Kesteloot", in Liber Memorialis. Notices Biographiques, T. 2, Gand, 1913, p. 416.
  9. ↑ "Levensberigt van Jacob Lodewijk Kesteloot", in Jaarboek van de Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde, 1853, p. 4.
  10. ↑ LOISE, Ferd., "Kesteloot, Jacques-Louis", in Biographie Nationale, t. 10, Bruxelles: Bruylant-Christophe & Cie, imprimeurs-éditeurs, 1888-1889, col. 701.
  11. ↑ LOISE, Ferd., "Kesteloot, Jacques-Louis", in Biographie Nationale, t. 10, Bruxelles: Bruylant-Christophe & Cie, imprimeurs-éditeurs, 1888-1889, col. 701.
  12. ↑ MARC, Charles Chrétien Henri, La vaccine soumise aux simples lumières de la raison, Paris : J. Ballière, 1836.
  13. ↑ KESTELOOT, Jacob-Lodewijk, Lofrede op Hermanus Boerhaave, Leiden: D. du Mortier, 1825.
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