[1][2][3] His parents immigrated to the Dutch East Indies where, from 1923, he had his elementary education.

A thesis on Indo-Malayan Tortricidae completed, he returned to Java in 1939 to take up a post as an entomologist at a sugar plantations and industries research station.

In 1945 he returned to the Netherlands and studied at Leiden Museum, working in the Lepidoptera collection.

He was an active member of the Netherlands Entomological Society and a long-time editor of Tijdschrift voor Entomologie.

His scientific work in the Leiden museum continued until his death and his collection is conserved in Naturalis.