Maria Karoline Elisabeth Gottschalk (28 October 1912 – 14 September 1989) was a German-born Dutch

historical geographer Historical geography is the branch of geography that studies the ways in which geographic phenomena have changed over time. It is a synthesizing discipline which shares both topical and methodological similarities with history, anthropology, eco ...

and professor. She was noted for ''Stormvloeden en rivieroverstromingen in Nederland'' (Storm surges and river floods in the Netherlands), a three volume study into the historical

storm surges A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the no ...

and river floods, which is considered a standard work which corrected the existing theories behind storm surges.

Biography

Gottschalk was born on 28 October 1912 in

Mönchengladbach Mönchengladbach (, li, Jlabbach ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located west of the Rhine, halfway between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border. Geography Municipal subdivisions Since 2009, the territory of Mönchengladbac ...

, Germany. She became a teacher in

Margraten Margraten (; li, Mergraote) is a village and a former municipality in the southeastern part of the Netherlands. On 1 January 2011 this former municipality merged with a neighbouring one, which resulted in the new Eijsden-Margraten municipality. ...

, Netherlands. In 1938, she changed to Dutch nationality. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she started to research the historical geography of

Zeelandic Flanders Zeelandic Flanders ( ; zea, Zeêuws-Vlaonderen; vls, Zêeuws-Vloandern)''Vlaanderen'' in isolation: . is the southernmost region of the province of Zeeland in the south-western Netherlands. It lies south of the Western Scheldt that separates t ...

, but lost her research papers during the war. In 1949, Gottschalk started studying

social geography Social geography is the branch of human geography that is interested in the relationships between society and space, and is most closely related to social theory in general and sociology in particular, dealing with the relation of social phenomena ...

at the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

, and graduated in 1952. In 1955, she obtained her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

with ''Historische Geografie van Westelijk Zeeuws-Vlaanderen'' which was a poorly documented subject. In 1962, she became

lector Lector is Latin for one who reads, whether aloud or not. In modern languages it takes various forms, as either a development or a loan, such as french: lecteur, en, lector, pl, lektor and russian: лектор. It has various specialized uses. ...

historical geography at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

. In 1971, Gottschalk published the first volume of ''Stormvloeden en rivieroverstromingen in Nederland'' in which she researched the

and river floods before 1400, and corrected many errors in the existing history, and discovered surges which were based on legends instead of facts. She proved that many more factors played a role, and corrected the theories behind the development of the

Zuiderzee The Zuiderzee or Zuider Zee (; old spelling ''Zuyderzee'' or ''Zuyder Zee'') was a shallow bay of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands, extending about 100 km (60 miles) inland and at most 50 km (30 miles) wide, with an o ...

and the

Dollart The Dollart (German name) or Dollard (Dutch name) is a bay in the Wadden Sea between the northern Netherlands and Germany, on the west side of the estuary of the Ems river. Most of it dries at low tide. Many water birds feed there. Gaining ...

. In 1977, the third and final volume was published which was described by the ''

Leeuwarder Courant The ''Leeuwarder Courant'' is the oldest daily newspaper in the Netherlands. Founded by Abraham Ferwerda, it first appeared in 1752. The ''Leeuwarder Courant'' was the first paper in the Dutch province Friesland and its capital Leeuwarden. It is ...

'' as the standard work on floods in the Netherlands. Gottschalk retired on 1 January 1978, and died on 14 September 1989 in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, at the age of 76.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gottschalk, Elisabeth 1912 births 1989 deaths People from Mönchengladbach Utrecht University alumni University of Amsterdam faculty Historical geographers Dutch women scientists 20th-century Dutch educators German emigrants to the Netherlands