A. Schoep - Mineral Collectors Page

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.