Theodoor de Booy | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Theodoor Hendrik Nikolaas de Booy December 5, 1882 Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands |
| Died | February 18, 1919 (aged 36) Yonkers, New York |
| Education | Royal Naval Institute |
| Occupation | Archaeologist |
| Spouse |
Elizabeth Hamilton Smith
(m. 1909) |
Theodoor Hendrik Nikolaas de Booy (December 5, 1882 – February 18, 1919) was a Dutch-born American archaeologist.
De Booy was born as son of a vice admiral in Hellevoetsluis, Netherlands. He was educated at the Royal Naval Institute. At the age of 23, he migrated to the United States where he married Elizabeth Hamilton Smith on March 29, 1909.They had two children.[1]
In 1916 he became an American citizen. In 1911 he went to the Bahamas with his wife. During their archaeological fieldwork in the caves and middens they made remarkable discoveries (e.g. a paddle or pottery) from the Pre-Columbian culture of the Lucayan. In the following years he worked for the Heye Museum in New York City.[1] His fieldwork in the Caribbean and in Venezuela made him a prolific expert for the history of the Pre-Columbian Arawak culture.[2]
He died from influenza in his home in Yonkers, New York on February 18, 1919.[2][3]
Alexander Wetmore named the extinct Antillean cave rail (Nesotrochis debooyi) after de Booy.[4]
