Frederik H. Kreuger

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Frederik H. Kreuger
Frederik H. Kreuger
Frederik H. Kreuger
Born May 14, 1928
Amsterdam
Nationality Germany

Frederik Hendrik Kreuger (Amsterdam 14th May 1928), is a Dutch high voltage scientist and inventor, lives in Delft, Holland, and is professor emeritus of the Delft University of Technology. He is also a professional author of technical literature, nonfiction books, thrillers and a decisive biography of the master forger Han van Meegeren.

The tabacco factory "Het Wapen van Spanje" anno 1893 in Weteringstraat 40, Amsterdam.
The tabacco factory "Het Wapen van Spanje" anno 1893 in Weteringstraat 40, Amsterdam.
The Delft University of Technology.
The Delft University of Technology.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Frederik H. Kreuger stems from an old Amsterdam family where his maternal grandfather ran a small tobacco factory "Het Wapen van Spanje" in the Weteringstraat, in the old town near the Rijksmuseum. He published a Book[1] about his grandfather, this tobacco factory and the explosive development of science and technique in the Belle Époque, the period his grandfather lived.

He was educated in Haarlem HBS B (a bèta-oriented secondary school), took his engineering degree at the Delft University of Technology in Holland and received there his doctorate in 1961. He worked as a high voltage scientist in Sweden, England and Holland. In Holland he was employed by the electrical industry and became later managing director of the Nederlandse Kabelfabriek in Delft. In 1986 he became a high voltage professor of his Alma mater in Delft and worked there until 1995.

He is the inventor of several constructions for high voltage cable systems and of equipment for the detection of partial discharges. Some examples are:

  • the (now usual) elastomeric terminals for solid H.V. cables
  • the (now usual) elastomeric joints in solid H.V. cables (also called bi-manchet)
  • balanced detection of partial discharges (P.D.s) (also called Kreuger bridge)
  • discharge standard for partial discharge (P.D.) measurements.

His book Partial Discharge Detection[2] was for twenty-five years the leading text book in this field. He has also published books about Management and Mismanagement in Research[3] and Disadvantages of Wind Energy. His high voltage laboratory in Delft became a centre of knowledge for partial discharge detection and for the study of Direct current high voltage.

Kreuger is also the inventor of a system for gaining solar power from sea by large floating algea fields producing biofuel (European Patent EP07110895 – 22 june 2007). This project is managed by the Botanical Garden of the Department Biotechnology of the Delft University of Technology; several departments of the University are cooperating herein.

Kreuger made a study of his fellow-townsman Johannes Vermeer and Vermeer’s use of the Camera Obscura. He also published a study about the location where Vermeer might have painted his Little Street (Vermeer). An English translation of this study is present in the Municipal archives of Delft.

Kreuger started in 2001 to study the life of the famous Dutch forger Han van Meegeren. His first book on Van Meegeren was a Dutch novel[4].

It was translated later on in English as "The Deception"[5], also featuring some sketches about the life of Johannes Vermeer. A short biography "Real life of Van Meegeren" is found at the end of this novel.

Kreuger was in an opportune position to write his biography about Van Meegeren because his native language is Dutch and also because he lived in Holland at the time when Van Meegeren was active. He searched for primary sources – especially in Holland – and added in this way to the knowledge gained by John Godley, 3rd Baron Kilbracken[6], who was a pioneer in this field, and to that of Marie Louise Doudart de la Grée, who interviewed Van Meegeren in 1946 and wrote a Dutch biography[7] in 1966.

Kreuger was fortunate to meet the last living relatives of Han van Meegeren and also the last surviving witness of his arrest, and he discovered an unpublished biography of Van Meegeren’s son Jacques, containing new information on the artist’s life. Besides he found unknown photographs related to Van Meegeren.

In addition, he revealed paintings under the artist’s own name and he also identified some more fake Old Masters made by Van Meegeren.

In 2004 he published his findings in Dutch in "Han van Meegeren, Meestervervalser"[8], where new facts and newly found works of Van Meegeren were collected.

In 2006 followed "De Arrestatie van een Meestervervalser"[9], again in Dutch, in which the many reactions on his first biography were incorporated.

The resulting English biography A New Vermeer. Life and Work of Han van Meegeren[10] 2007 was named after a notorious article A New Vermeer[11], where the great art-expert Dr. Abraham Bredius praised the Van Meegeren fake Emmaus as the finest Vermeer painting ever seen.

Kreuger plays the leading violin in the amateur gipsy orchestra Siperkov Ensemble. He made a study of Gipsy or Romani music and published a book in Dutch[12] about the history and perception of Gipsy music. An excerpt of this book appeared as the lemma "Zigeunermuziek" in the Dutch version of Wikipedia[13].

The following article reviews the career of Frederik Hendrik Kreuger and his work in the field of high voltage research:

Morshuis, P.H.F.: The scientific career of Frederik Hendrik Kreuger. Appears in: IEEE Transactions on Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Oct 1995, Volume 2, Issue 5, pages 711-716.

[edit] See also

[edit] Bibliography (English titles only)

  • Frederik H. Kreuger: Detection and location of discharges: in particular in plastic-insulated high-voltage cables. Doctoral thesis, Delft 1961.
  • Frederik H. Kreuger: Discharge Detection in High Voltage Equipment. Temple Press, London 1964; Japanese translation through Charles Tuttle Co, Tokyo 1968 and illegal translations in Russian and Chinese after 1968.
  • Frederik H. Kreuger: Management and Mismanagement in Research. Alphen aan de Rijn 1972
  • Frederik H. Kreuger: Partial Discharge Detection. Butterworth, London 1989
  • Frederik H. Kreuger: Industrial High Voltage in three volumes, University Press, Delft 1991, 1992, 1993. AC High Voltage ISBN 90-6275-561-5 and ISBN 90-6275-562-3 and DC High Voltage ISBN 90-407-1110-0
  • Frederik H. Kreuger: The Deception. Quantes Publishers, Rijswijk 2005. ISBN 90-5959-031-7 (This book is a translation of the Dutch novel Het Bedrog published by Quantes Publishers 2003. See link # 2)
  • Frederik H. Kreuger: A New Vermeer : Life and Work of Han van Meegeren. Quantes Publishers, Rijswijk 2007. ISBN 978-90-5959-047-2 (See link #2)

Numerous publications for CIGRE (Conseil International des Grands Réseaux Électrique), in the Transactions of the IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and many other scientific periodicals.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: De Tweede Gouden Eeuw, Veen Magazines, Diemen 2007, ISBN: 9789085711124
  2. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: Partial Discharge Detection. Butterworth, London 1989.
  3. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: Management and Mismanagement in Research. Alphen aan de Rijn 1972.
  4. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: Het bedrog: roman naar het opzienbarende leven van de meestervervalser Han van Meegeren, Quantes Publishers, Rijswijk, 2003.
  5. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: The Deception. Quantes Publishers, Rijswijk 2005. ISBN 90-5959-031-7
  6. ^ John R. Godley: Master Forger. The Story of Han van Meegeren. New York 1951 and Van Meegeren, Master Forger. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1967.
  7. ^ Marie Louise Doudart de la Grée: Geen Standbeeld voor Han van Meegeren, De Goudvink, Antwerpen, 1966.
  8. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: Han van Meegeren, meestervervalser. Diemen, Veen Magazines, 2004. ISBN 90-76988-53-6
  9. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: De Arrestatie van een meestervervalser. Veen Magazines, Diemen 2006. ISBN 978-90-8571-043-1
  10. ^ Frederik H. Kreuger: A New Vermeer : Life and Work of Han van Meegeren. Quantes Publishers, Rijswijk 2007. ISBN 978-90-5959-047-2
  11. ^ Abraham Bredius: A New Vermeer: Christ and the Disciples at Emmaus, Burlington Magazine 71 (November 1937), pp. 210 – 211.
  12. ^ Zigeunermuziek. Delftse Universitaire Pers, Delft 1996. ISBN 90-407-1362-6
  13. ^ Zigeunermuziek

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Frederik Hendrik Kreuger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Frederik H. Kreuger
SHORT DESCRIPTION Dutch high voltage scientist, professor and professional author
DATE OF BIRTH 14th May 1928
PLACE OF BIRTH Amsterdam
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages