J. (Jan) Ritzema Bos

Jan Ritzema Bos (1850–1928) was a Dutch plant pathologist and zoologist, born in Groningen and later active in Wageningen. He is remembered as an early specialist in the study of crop pests and plant diseases, and for helping build plant protection into an organized scientific discipline.

He served as the first director of the Willie Commelin Scholten Foundation and founded the Plant Protection Service in Amsterdam in 1899. His research was strongly practical in spirit: he studied the insects, nematodes, and other organisms that harmed crops, and worked to translate scientific knowledge into methods growers could actually use.

Ritzema Bos also wrote widely on agricultural zoology and related subjects, making specialist knowledge more accessible to a broader audience. Today he stands out as one of the key figures in the early development of plant pathology in the Netherlands.