Foundation for the Study of Happiness
Stichting Studie Geluk
Ruut Veenhoven
Obituary
Ruut Veenhoven (1942-2024) was a pioneer in the scientific study of human happiness. His first publication on the subject was in 1970, when he studied sociology at Erasmus University of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. In 1984 he reviewed the available research in ‘Conditions of Happiness’. This work laid the basis for the World Database of Happiness, which is on the internet since 1999. Veenhoven was a founding editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies that is published since 2000.
After his study of sociology, Ruut Veenhoven came to teach social psychology at Erasmus University Rotterdam. In 1995 he was appointed as a professor of Humanism at Utrecht University and in 2000 he became professor of social conditions for human Happiness at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Since 2011 he was also a special professor at North-West University in South Africa. After reaching age 65 in 2007 Veenhoven continued his research on happiness as an emeritus professor, working in the newly established Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization EHERO.
Veenhoven’s main contribution to the study of happiness is the World Database of Happiness, which is an e-archive of research findings on the subjective enjoyment of life-as-a-whole. The aim of the archive is to facilitate synthetic studies, both quantitative meta-analysis and narrative reviews. By his death in 2024 the website provided access to some 50.000 internet pages on which a finding is described in a standard format and terminology. The database is stored in the Library of Erasmus University Rotterdam and remains accessible on the internet. Options for the continuation of this source are found here.
The intellectual legacy of Ruut Veenhoven is preserved by this Foundation for the Study of Happiness by 1) facilitating use of the World Database Happiness, 2) providing access to his collected works and 3) saving his scientific archive.
Biographic detail about Ruut Veenhoven can be found at https://personal.eur.nl/veenhoven/biographies.htm
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruut_Veenhoven
Veenhoven was director of the World Database of Happiness and a founding editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies
E-mail address: veenhoven@ese.eur.nl (out of use)
Postal address: Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization EHERO
P.O.Box 1738, 3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands, Tel +31 10 4082102
ORCID: 0000-0002-5159-393X
Tribute to Ruut Veenhoven from colleagues of Optentia Research Unit, North-West University, South Africa.
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