Conrad Carel Käyser (5 November 1876 – 26 April 1939) was a Dutch naval officer, explorer and mountaineer. He led two expeditions in

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

, among which the expedition at the end of the 1930s to mark the Brazilian–Surinamese border.

Biography

Conrad Carel Käyser was born on 3 November 1876 in

Oosterhout Oosterhout (; from ''ooster'', "eastern", and ''hout'', "woods") is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and a city in southern Netherlands. The municipality had a population of in . Population centers The municipality of Ooste ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

. He pursued a regular study for naval officers and had subsequent promotions in his career by the

Royal Netherlands Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy (, ) is the Navy, maritime service branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. It traces its history to 8 January 1488, making it the List of navies, third-oldest navy in the world. During the 17th and early 18th centurie ...

. He was appointed

Adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

First Class on 2 August 1887, Lieutenant at sea Second Class in 1900, Lieutenant at sea First Class on 1 January 1912, Captain Lieutenant at sea on 16 April 1921,

Captain at sea Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

on 1 December 1926, and

Schout-bij-nacht () is a naval rank of Dutch origin. The was responsible for ensuring that a fleet continued to sail in the prescribed order at night. The title comes from the title of the officer who replaced the admiral at night, from the Middle Low German sc ...

on 26 January 1929. He finally was promoted to

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

on 16 March 1931, the day he was honourably discharged from his naval service.Haagsche Courant
Vice-admiraal C.C. Käyser †
27 April 1939 In 1910 he was one of the members of the expedition of Eilerts de Haan to the

Upper Suriname River The Upper Suriname River is the upper reach of the Suriname River. Shortly behind the beginning to the Lower Suriname River, there is the Brokopondo Reservoir. From there, the access by road ends at the jetty of Atjoni, near Pokigron. The Suriname ...

. De Haan passed away on the way and Käyser took over the lead of the expedition. In the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

he also seized every opportunity to engage in mountaineering, which he also pursued in Europe. From 1935 to 1938 he led the expedition to mark the Brazilian–Surinamese border. It took three years and had two intermissions in

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

to wait for a more favourable time of year. After his return and the signing of the border demarcation protocols with

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

he stayed in Paramaribo for some time until his departure to the Netherlands on 24 February 1939. Shortly after his arrival he had a conversation with minister Charles Welter on 26 April 1939 at the office in the Ministry of the Colonies in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. There, at the age of 62, Käyser suffered a sudden heart attack and medical assistance was promptly summoned in vain. On 29 April 1939, he was laid to rest at the cemetery of Oud Eik en Duinen.Het Vaderland
Teraardbestelling vice-admirall C. C. käyser.
29 April 1939

Awards and honours

Käyser was decorated as a Knight in the

Order of the Netherlands Lion The Order of the Netherlands Lion, also known as the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands (, ) is a Dutch honours system, Dutch order of chivalry founded by William I of the Netherlands on 29 September 1815. The Order of the Netherlands Lion wa ...

and Commander in the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

for his role in Suriname. Next to them, he was decorated in several foreign orders. In 1939, he was posthumously awarded the rank of Grand Officer in the

Order of the Southern Cross The National Order of the Southern Cross () is a Brazilian Orders, decorations, and medals of Brazil, order of chivalry founded by List of monarchs of Brazil, Emperor Pedro I of Brazil, Pedro I on 1 December 1822. The order aimed to commemorate ...

in Brazil. The Käyser Mountains are named after him.Arno Landewers
Wetenschappelijke verkenningsvluchten boven Suriname
page 6 / note ii

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kayser, Conrad Carel 1876 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Dutch explorers People from Oosterhout