‘Hij kan toch moeilijk de sterren in de war schoppen’. De afwijzing van Pannekoek als adjunct-directeur van de Leidse sterrewacht in 1919

Abstract

Anton Pannekoek (1873-1960) lived two lives: besides being a pioneer of astrophysics in the Netherlands, he also was a passionate socialist theoretician, respected by such luminaries as Rosa Luxemburg, K. Kautsky and Lenin. Pannekoek always tried to keep these two spheres separate. He even went so far as to write two autobiographies. But at some occasions, this separation proved to be impossible. One of these occurred was in 1919, when the Dutch government refused to appoint him as vice-president of the Leiden Observatory. In this article, the events leading up to this rejection are reconstructed, using material from the archive of the Observatory. It turns out that Prime Minister Ruys de Beerenbrouck personally intervened, after several newspapers had announced the 'impending appointment of a known communist' to a government position. As a result of an attempted revolution by socialist leader Troelstra in November 1918, public opinion was heavily against communism. The appointment of a communist to a teaching university position, where he could influence the nation's youth, was considered too great a risk. However, the rejection of Pannekoek was not a matter of principle: it was a consequence of the specific political atmosphere of 1919. It is very likely that a few years earlier or later, no objections would have been made.