By: Charles Darwin Foundation
Our Foundation is in deep mourning: it has lost the one who has been its soul since its early beginnings and who has allowed it to achieve its first objectives in a very short space of time.
Our President had just returned from Ecuador. There he had seen his work accomplished and his dearest desires realized more completely than the most optimistic predictions could have expected. On 21st January 1964 the Charles Darwin Research Station was formally opened in the presence of Ecuadorian dignitaries, representatives of the diplomatic corps and a distinguished company of scientists taking part in the University of California expedition. On 14th February he signed an agreement in Quito with the Government of the Republic of Ecuador, defining our right sand obligations and granting us freedom to carry out our activities. He was decorated with a high honor, being awarded the title of Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Ecuador, which filled him with a profound joy and testified to the affection of a land which does not bestow its favors lightly.
He returned to Brussels and resumed his work. That it where death overtook him unexpectedly on 29th February 1964. We have been dismayed by his passing.
We do not have the space here to record the work of Professor Victor Van Straelen,for it was rich and varied. Born in Anvers on 14th June 1889, he was early attracted by earth science and commenced the study of geology in Belgium and in France.He was no less an enthusiastic naturalist from birth and was conscious of the fundamental unity of nature. His nomination, in 1925, as Director of what was to become the Belgian Royal Institute of Natural Science in Brussels, was justified. While pursuing a productive scientific career, he reorganized the institution and realized the dream of all curators of collections in constructing and equipping buildings worthy of the materials under his care.
His voyages across the world, notably to Indonesia and to the Congo, had revealed to him the gravity of the threats to wildlife throughout the world. Professor Van Straelen immediately aligned himself with those were already working for its defense. His field of action was first of all Central Africa. In 1933 he was made President of the Institute of National Parks of the Congo. Thanks to high-level political support and the collaboration of scientists throughout the world, he carried out the double task of conservation and serious scientific research. Albert National Park — a stable biological unit, unique in the world, situated in one of the most beautiful regions of Africa — and the parks of Garamba and Upemba in the Congo and of Kagera in Rwanda attest to the success of the man and his team. The series of Memoirs of the Institute constitute a monumental ensemble without equivalent for any other region of Africa, a treasure trove of documents and provided the basis for the natural sciences on the Black Continent.
It would take too long to recall the multitude of other activities of Professor Van Straelen and we will briefly refer to his last, which particularly concerns us here.
There were few apparent indications that he would be destined to preside over a Foundation operating in the Galápagos, apart from the universality of his spirit and the attraction of these islands for all naturalists. And yet it must be stressed that he was well prepared for this new and original enterprise.
He was profoundly a naturalist and convinced of the necessity of protecting nature in the interest even of man. A born administrator, he had organizational skills,so rarely found among biologists. He was also profoundly humane and international in his outlook. Therefore it was quite natural for him to engage in the work to be undertaken in Galápagos, a region of the world which is of exceptional interest to biologists and is so severely threatened for the reasons which are well known.
Our Foundation was established in 1959. The provisional Executive Council unanimously elected Professor Van Straelen as its President; from then on he was its most active member. He organized the Foundation, giving it a legal status, at the same time collecting funds and setting up the Research Station at Santa Cruz,negotiating an agreement with the Ecuadorian Government to ensure its ongoing effective operation.
Innumerable difficulties emerged immediately and the lack of funds was only the most apparent. Our President knew how to overcome these obstacles and in a short space of time achieved what is too well known to be recounted here. All those who know our Foundation, the Charles Darwin Station and its current ways of operating realize the work he accomplished and the constant effort required to bring this about. All of our successes are the fruit of the personal efforts of our President.
Professor Van Straelen departed at a turning point in the history of the Charles Darwin Foundation for Galápagos. His name justly deserves a place alongside that of his illustrious predecessor. One made known to the world these islands which are of paramount interest for the understanding of vital phenomena; the other ensured the conservation of this natural heritage for the generations to come.
While we mourn the departure of our President, so abruptly taken from us, we must be convinced that the surest way of rendering him homage is to continue the work begun and follow the route which he so brilliantly established for us.
(Translated from the original French text)