Georges van Son

van Son, Georges (1898-1967)

Entomologist at the Transvaal Museum from 1925-1967. Worked mainly on butterflies. Was fluent in six different languages.

Date	Age	Event
1898		Born on 1 October in Orel, Russia, on his father's estate. His father was in the Dutch diplomatic service and his mother was a Russian countess. Home language was French but also spoke Russian and Dutch.
c1915		Visited China and Japan as a cadet in the Imperial Navy.
1917		Russian Revolution. Witnessed the shooting of his father. He, his sister and his mother escaped to France and he then escaped to Holand and stayed with members of his father's family.
?		For two years he worked in Holand at the Zoological Laboratory in Utrecht, the Colonial Institute in Amsterdam and the Ryks Museum in Leiden.
1923		Recommended to A.J.T. Janse as a private assistant. Before coming out to South Africa, studied genitalia techniques under Pierce in England.
1925		Offered the post of assistant entomologist at the Transvaal Museum, later becoming professional officer in charge of Entomology.
1936		Married Miss E. Saunders. For their honeymoon they went on a collecting expedition north of the Transvaal.
		Obtained his BSc, MSc and DSc degrees through the University of Pretoria. Main research was on butterflies. Did extensive collecting in southern Africa.
29 May 1967		Died.

Text by Hamish G. Robertson