Georges Van der Kerken (16 October 1888 – 3 December 1953) was a Belgian lawyer, colonial administrator and professor.

[2] From 1914 to 1919 Van der Kerken practiced law in Katanga Province as chief prosecutor, military auditor and judge.

[1] Van der Kerken was a strong defender of indirect administration, a policy aimed at improving Africans while retaining their culture, traditions and language in a country that would one day have to administer itself.

[2] After leaving the administration Van der Kerken became a professor at the University Institute of Overseas Territories [fr] in Antwerp, where he taught "Congolese ethnography" from 1924 to 1934.

He also interviewed missionaries, civil servants and magistrates, who provided him with important and original information gathered during their long stay in the native environment.