René Teijgeler is a social scientist and a conservator. He started his academic career in 1970 with his studies in Sociology (BA) and Social Psychology (MA). As he developed a taste for books, he started studying book and paper conservation (BA). A year later, he was appointed Conservator at the National Library of the Netherlands. As his interests took him to preservation cultures outside Europe, he continued his academic training in Anthropology (MA cum laude). Working for Fair Trade NL, he became acquainted with the ins and outs of humanitarian aid. After serving as cultural advisor in Iraq (2004-2005) and in Afghanistan (2009), he knows what it means to preserve heritage in times of conflict. Since then, he advised many governments, international heritage organizations, lectured in many capitals and published many articles.
In February 2013, Mr. Teijgeler was co-founder of the NGO Heritage for Peace, which assists Syrian heritage colleagues during the conflict to save their heritage, and which he still advises.