Jan Justus "Jan-Just" Bos (28 July 1939 – 24 March 2003) was a Dutch botanist, television presenter, and

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

who competed in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

and

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. Bos (Dutch for "forest") studied forestry at the

Wageningen University Wageningen University & Research (also known as Wageningen UR; abbreviation: WUR) is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in life sciences with a focus on agriculture, technical and engineering subjects. It is a globally ...

. While a student in Wageningen, he was the coxwain of the Dutch coxed pair, which was eliminated in the

repechage Repechage (; french: repêchage, "fishing out, rescuing") is a practice in series competitions that allows participants who failed to meet qualifying standards by a small margin to continue to the next round. A well known example is the wild car ...

at the 1960 Olympics. Four years later he won a bronze medal in the same event, together with

Erik Hartsuiker Frederik Klaas Jan "Erik" Hartsuiker (19 October 1940 - 13 January 2019) was a Dutch rower who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1964, he won a bronze medal in the coxed pairs event, together with Herman Rouwé and Jan-Just Bos. ...

and

Herman Rouwé Herman Jan Rouwé (born 20 January 1943) is a retired Dutch rower who competed at the 1964 and 1968 Summer Olympics. In 1964, he won a bronze medal in the coxed pairs event, together with Erik Hartsuiker and Jan-Just Bos. Four years later he fi ...

. From 1968 on he worked at his Wageningen University, becoming a faculty member of the department of

plant systematics The history of plant systematics—the biological classification of plants—stretches from the work of ancient Greek to modern evolutionary biologists. As a field of science, plant systematics came into being only slowly, early plant lo ...

. He specialized in the

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. E ...

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

and spent six years in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, and

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

where he collected over 10,000 plants. In 1984 he defended a PhD on a study of the plants of the genus '' Dracaena'' in West Africa. In 1985 he led an expedition to Gabon. In the 1980s he was a presenter for the Dutch nature television series ''Ja, natuurlijk'' ("Yes, naturally").

References

1939 births 2003 deaths 20th-century Dutch botanists Dutch male rowers Olympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands Olympic medalists in rowing Olympic rowers of the Netherlands Rowers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 1964 Summer Olympics Wageningen University and Research alumni Wageningen University and Research faculty People from Balikpapan Sportspeople from East Kalimantan Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Coxswains (rowing) {{netherlands-rowing-bio-stub