Alfred Schoep (1881-1966) Alfred Schoep was born in Ghent, one of the major towns of Belgium. He first studied geography at the local university, then mineral sciences, and got a doctors degree in both. After working for a few years at the University of Ghent, he took part in an expedition to Katanga (Democratic Republic of Congo) from 1910 to 1913. After World War I, Schoep replaced Franz-Friedrich Stöber at the University of Ghent, teaching crystallography and mineralogy. He also taught at other institutions in Ghent and later on even at the École des Mines (School of Mines) in Mons. It was his colleague Jules Cornet who sparked his interest in uraniferous minerals. Thanks to the Democratic Republic of Congo opening up, he was able to describe many new mineral species from that country in the following years (1921-1932). Unfortunately, his scientific career was slowed down tremendously when he became administratorinspector of the University and director of the Technical Schools of Ghent. However, in this new position, and thanks to his many skills, he realized the construction of quite a few impressive buildings, that even today are still iconic for the town of Ghent. At the end of World War II, Schoep was suspended from office because some people thought he had symphatized with the Germans. Fortunately he was rehabilitated a few years later. Alfred Schoep finally passed away after a lasting disease in 1966. The photo of Alfred Schoep is © Collection of Portraits, University Library of Ghent, Belgium. Minerals Schoep (co-)described no less than 20 minerals new to science (16 of them within 11 years). Only four of those 20 have been discredited; the others are still valid species today. The status of paraschoepite is considered questionable by some researchers. Mineral photos Schoepite Schoepite was described in 1923 by Thomas Leonard Walker (1867-1942), Professor and Head of Mineralogy and Petrography of the University of Toronto (1901-1937): “I propose to name it in honor of Professor Alfred Schoep, (…), who has contributed so much to our knowledge of the secondary uranium minerals from the Congo”. Note the typical tabular habit and lemon yellow color of the schoepite crystals. In general schoepite crystals are quite small (up to 2 mm) and not transparent but translucent. This is a very nice and representative specimen from the type locality. It is in the collection of Francis Coune and was expertly photographed by Roger Warin. buttgenbachite => see Buttgenbach vandenbrandeite Schoep described this mineral in 1932 in honor of Pierre Vanden Brande (1896-1957), a Belgian geologist who worked for the Comité Spécial du Katanga. He discovered the Kalongwe uranium deposit and was also the first to collect samples of this mineral. Even though he was a geologist, he died quite an unusual death: he was attacked and mortally wounded by a herd of elephants while working in the field. This specimen does not come from the type locality, but it clearly shows the lath like crystal shape and dark green color (very typical) of the species. It is in the collection of Stephan Wolfsried who also made this beautiful picture. kasolite This new mineral was named in 1921 by Schoep, after the locality where it was first found. Kasolo was the local name for a hill close to the now famous Shinkolobwe Mine (Katanga, Democratic Republic of Congo). Kasolite is certainly one of the most beautiful uraniferous minerals of Katanga, especially when it is so well crystallized like this specimen. Thanks to modern stacking techniques, these small wonders of nature can now be shown in full beauty on a photo. Stephan Wolfsried did an outstanding job with (t)his specimen of kasolite. curite Curite was the first new mineral Schoep described, in 1921. Since it was a radioactive mineral, it was quite appropriate to name it after Pierre Curie (1859-1906), a French physicist well known for his research on radioactivity and recipient of the 1903 Nobel Prize for physics (together with his wife Marie). Typical for curite are the almost needle-like crystals and the (orange-)reddish color, together with the presence of other radioactive minerals. The photo of Stephan Wolfsried shows a crisp close up of a crystallized curite vein, in order to better show the individual crystals. The specimen is part of his collection.