Kappers, Jan (1914-)
Kappers, Jan (1914-)
Dutch physician who was active in the field of parapsychology. He was born on July 30, 1914, at Rotterdam, the Netherlands. He took his medical degree at the University of Leiden (M.D., 1938). After several years as a medical officer with the Netherlands army (1938-40) he entered private practice in Amsterdam. Kappers also devoted much of his spare time to psychical research. In 1955 he became a board member of the Foundation for the Investigation of Paranormal Healing, and in 1959 he became the research officer of the Amsterdam Foundation for Parapsychological Research. He also served as president of the Parapsychological Circle, Amsterdam. In 1959 Kappers set up the Amsterdam Foundation for Parapsychological Research in order to facilitate funding.
Kappers joined the board of the Studievereniging voor Psychical Research (the Dutch Society for Psychical Research) in 1958. He participated in a heated controversy regarding the organization's autocratic president. He and others left the society in 1960 and Kappers became the first president of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Parapsychologie.
Kappers was associated with Arie Mak, F. van der Berg and A. H. de Jong in investigating clairvoyance with an apparatus devised by Mak. A report on this project was published in Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie (1957). Kappers also undertook a statistical evaluation of astrological findings, an inquiry into spontaneous paranormal phenomena in Amsterdam, and a study of paranormal events among subjects using hallucinogens. He edited the bimonthly journal Spiegel der Parpsychologie, to which he also contributed articles.
Sources:
Kappers, Jan. "ESP Status in 1966." International Journal of Neuropsychiatry (September-October 1966).
——. "The Investigation of Spontaneous Cases." Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie (1954).
——. "Is It Possible to Induce ESP with Psilocybine? An Exploratory Investigation." International Journal of Neuropsychiatry 2, no. 5 (1966).
Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. New York: Helix Press, 1964.