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Vintage Pre-WW2 Dr Lili Bleer Binoculars - C/w Original Leather Case. Made in Holland

Currency:CAD Category:Firearms & Military Start Price:20.00 CAD
Vintage Pre-WW2 Dr Lili Bleer Binoculars - C/w Original Leather Case. Made in Holland
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Vintage Pre-WW2 Dr Lili Bleer Binoculars - C/w Original Leather Case. Made in Holland

The history of the maker Lili Bleeker is a fascinating one and well worth investigating
- She was a very brave woman.

Caroline Emilie "Lili" Bleeker (17 January 1897 – 8 November 1985) was a Dutch
entrepreneur and physicist from Middelburg known for her designs and the
manufacturing of optical instruments. In the era she grew up, it was the norm for
women to become housewives whose chief roles were to perform domestic duties,
but Bleeker did not want to conform to these standards.
She wanted to pursue an education, and never married her life-long partner, Gerard
Willemse, which was quite anomalous at the time.
She would later emerge as one of the first women in the Netherlands to become a
doctor in physics and mathematics..

Bleeker's firm took a huge hit due to the effects of the Second World War. Sales
plummeted, she had to fire some of her employees and pay the ones who remained
out of her own pocket.
Bleeker, along with her partner Willemse, had to go into hiding due to her actions in
successfully eluding Jews from the German Officers when they invaded her factory
She re-emerged her firm after the end of the war. Because of her actions in the war,
Bleeker was awarded the Royal Distinction by the Dutch army, and was later
granted a recovery loan by the government to open up a new factory in Zeist.

Her company manufactured the optical instruments required for the development of
the phase contrast microscope, which was invented by Frits Zernike who received
the Nobel prize in 1953 for this invention, and held his patents on the design..

She also made binoculars for the Dutch Army - This is one of those pre WW2
binoculars - a 6 x 24 mde in Zeist.

Condition is very good - glass is clear and they operate the way they should.
The case has seen some duty and it is worn with some stiching comomg loose
around the zipper. Zipper still works great.
There is some paint loss to the edges but other tha that they are in fine condition.