Editing Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (section)

==Biography==
The third of seven children, Van&nbsp;'t Hoff was born in [[Rotterdam]], Netherlands, 30 August 1852. His father was Jacobus Henricus van&nbsp;'t Hoff Sr., a physician, and his mother was Alida Kolff van 't Hoff.<ref>{{Nobelprize}}</ref>  From a young age, he was interested in science and nature, and frequently took part in botanical excursions. In his early school years, he showed a strong interest in poetry and [[philosophy]]. He considered [[Lord Byron]] to be his idol.

Against the wishes of his father, Van&nbsp;'t Hoff chose to study [[chemistry]]. First, he enrolled at [[Delft University of Technology]] in September 1869, and studied until 1871, when he passed his final exam on 8 July and obtained a degree of [[Industrial technology|chemical technologist]].<ref name="Snelders">{{cite book|title=De geschiedenis van de scheikunde in Nederland. Deel 1: Van alchemie tot chemie en chemische industrie rond 1900|last=H.A.M.|first=Snelders|publisher=Delftse Universitaire Pers|year=1993}}</ref><ref name="Cordfunke">{{cite book|title=Een romantisch geleerde: Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff (1852–1911)|first=E. H. P.|last=Cordfunke|publisher=Vossiuspers UvA|year=2001}}</ref><ref name="Cohen">{{cite book|title=Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff|url=https://archive.org/details/jacobushenricus00cohegoog|first=E.|last=Cohen|publisher=Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann|year=1899}}</ref> He passed all his courses in two years, although the time assigned to study was three years.<ref name="Snelders" /><ref name="Cordfunke" /><ref name="Cohen" /> Then he enrolled at [[University of Leiden]] to study chemistry. He then studied in [[Bonn]], Germany, with [[Friedrich August Kekule von Stradonitz|August Kekulé]] and in Paris with [[Charles Adolphe Wurtz|Adolphe Wurtz]]. He received his [[Doctor of Philosophy|doctorate]] under Eduard Mulder at the [[Utrecht University|University of Utrecht]] in 1874.<ref>[http://dap.library.uu.nl/cgi-bin/dap/dap?diss_id=7506 Entry in Digital Album Promotorum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724171949/http://dap.library.uu.nl/cgi-bin/dap/dap?diss_id=7506 |date=24 July 2011 }} of [[Utrecht University]]</ref>

In 1878, Van&nbsp;'t Hoff married Johanna Francina Mees. They had two daughters, Johanna Francina (1880–1964) and Aleida Jacoba (1882–1971), and two sons, Jacobus Henricus van&nbsp;'t Hoff III (1883–1943) and Govert Jacob (1889–1918). Van&nbsp;'t Hoff died at the age of 58, on 1 March 1911, at [[Steglitz]], near Berlin, of [[tuberculosis]].