Talking to the scientist: Jan van Hooff

The expert on primates joins the regulars' table. In Dutch.

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Information

Date and time Saturday 18 January 2014 22:30 tot 22:55 uur
Location Theater aan het Spui - foyer

Expert on primates Jan van Hooff joins host Francis Broekhuijsen's regulars' table. While he signs his books we listen to his favourite music. And talk about privacy in the animal kingdom. In Dutch.

Jan van Hooff

(Arnhem, 1936) is emeritus professor in ethology and social ecology. Van Hooff grew up in Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem of which his parents were the directors. His maternal grandfather, Johan Burgers, founded the zoo and his brother Antoon was its director later on. Van Hooff studied biology with among others Niko Tinbergen and Desmond Morris and did his Ph.D. on social behaviour and communication among primates. Especially his studies on laughter and smiling in primates drew attention. As a professor at the universities of Utrecht and Wageningen he studied social behaviour in primates such as orang-utans and chimpansees. He did fieldwork in Indonesia and in Burgers’ Zoo, looking at how animals live together in group structures and how they solve conflicts. In July 2013 he enthusiastically presented a programme on ‘monkey business’ with Teleac-NTR. Van Hooff is a scientific member of the Board of Burgers' Zoo and until recently was secretary-general of the International Primatological Society and chair of the Jane Goodall Institute in the Netherlands.
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Francis Broekhuijsen

(The Netherlands, 1970) is a presenter, producer, actor and voice-over artist specializing in music, literature, arts and culture. After graduating as actor from the Toneelschool Amsterdam he was a member, among others, of the ensemble of the Nationale Toneel. He was a presenter at Amsterdam-based broadcaster AT5 and a radio producer with the KRO on national network NPO Radio 1. He narrates audio books, and was shortlisted for the Storytel Award 2019 for Best Audio Book with his reading of Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer's novel Grand Hotel Europa. Until last year, he presented on radio station Sublime the daily morning show Sublime Sunrise, the Instagram poetry programme Sublime Smooth and evening show The Sublime Experience. In 2025 he wrote and hosted the tv-series Kringlopen met Francis on regional Dutch broadcaster NH. Broekhuijsen works for Writers Unlimited as festival curator and presenter.

Go to the website of Francis Broekhuijsen
Instagram: @francisbroekhuijsen
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