Dr B. Quanjer (Björn)

Specialist in historical microdata - Humanities Lab Faculty of Arts

Björn Quanjer (1991) is a post-doctoral researcher for the Historical database of Suriname and the Caribbean (HDSC) project. His research focusses on inequalities in wealth and health in historical populations. Björn constructs and uses large scale population database to explore social, economic and demographic trends in the past. Within the HDSC project Björn focusses on the island of Curaçao.

Björn’s PhD research entailed a study of early life determinants of adult height within the Netherlands between 1850-1950. In 2024 he defended his dissertation cum laude, using household level data linked to conscription records. His research calls for more attention for the influence of diseases compared to the nutritional aspect of heights alone.

Björn holds both a BA (2014) and a MA (2016) degree in History from the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, writing his MA-thesis on the history of the bike in Groningen 1885-1935. This thesis won the History Thesis Prize Groningen in 2016.

Research group

Radboud Group for Historical Demography and Family History

Tags: Anthropometric history, Historical intra household resource allocation, Historical growth curves, Early life conditions, colonial demography, legacies of slavery, Caribbean population history

Publications

Key publications

Galen, C.W. van & Quanjer, B. (2024). The Wolf, the island and the sea: truancy and escaping slavery in Curacao (1837–1863). The History of the Family, 29 (2), 262-279. doi: 10.1080/1081602X.2024.2340542 Full text
Quanjer, B. (2024, May 1). A Tale Of Tallness. A household perspective on early life determinants of male height within the Netherlands between 1850 and 1950. Radboud University (309 pag.) (s.l.: s.n.) Supervisor(s): prof. dr. J. Kok, prof. dr. A.A.P.O. Janssens & dr. mr. P.G. Tassenaar. Full text
Galen, C.W. van, Mourits, R.J., Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, M.T., A.B., M., Janssen, J., Quanjer, B., Oort, T. van & Kok, J. (2023). Slavery in Suriname. A Reconstruction of Life Courses, 1830–1863. Historical Life Course Studies, 13, 191-211. doi: 10.51964/hlcs15619 Full text
Kok, J., Quanjer, B. & Thompson, K. (2023). Casting shadows. Later-life outcomes of stature. The History of the Family, 28 (2), 181-197. doi: 10.1080/1081602X.2023.2206699 Full text
Kok, J., Portrait, F., Quanjer, B., Tassenaar, P.G. & Thompson, K. (Eds.). (2023-2023). Height and later-life outcomes [Special issue]. The History of the Family, 28(2). Full text
Quanjer, B. (2023). Height and the disease environment of children. The association between mortality and height in the Netherlands 1850-1940. The Economic History Review. doi: 10.1111/ehr.13274 Full text
Quanjer, B., Dijk, I.K. van & Rosenbaum-Feldbrügge, M.T. (2023). Short Lives. The Impact of Parental Death on Early-Life Mortality and Height in the Netherlands, 1850–1940. Demography, 60 (1), 255-279. doi: 10.1215/00703370-10421550 Full text
Quanjer, B. (2023). Standing on the shoulders of giants. Paternal life course effects on son's heights outcomes in the Netherlands 1820-1960. The History of the Family, 28 (2), 382-416. doi: 10.1080/1081602X.2023.2204561 Full text
Quanjer, B. & Kraijo, M.J. (2022). Tussen Kuznets en Calimero. Lengteongelijkheid in Nederland 1863-1875. Ex Tempore, 41 (1), 40-54. Full text
Quanjer, B. & Kok, J. (2021). Biographies and Bodies of Pupils of the Amsterdam Maritime Institute, 1792–1943. Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 6 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.1163/24523666-bja10019 Full text
Quanjer, B. & Thompson, K. (2021). The Roots of the Obesity Boom. The Relationship Between Overweight and Educational Level Among Dutch Men, 1950–1979. Historical Life Course Studies, 10, 124-129. doi: 10.51964/hlcs9580 Full text
Quanjer, B. & Kok, J. (2020). Drafting the Dutch. Selection Biases in Dutch Conscript Records in the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century. Social Science History, 44 (3), 501-524. doi: 10.1017/ssh.2020.13 Full text
Thompson, K., Quanjer, B. & Murkens, M. (2020). Grow fast, die young? The causes and consequences of adult height and prolonged growth in nineteenth century Maastricht. Social Science & Medicine, 266:113430. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113430 Full text

Dr B. Quanjer (Björn)

Publications

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