Augusta Vera Duthie Explained

Birth Date:18 July 1881
Death Place:Belvidere, Knysna
Fields:botanist
Workplaces:Victoria College
Alma Mater:South African College
University of South Africa
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Author Abbrev Bot:A.V.Duthie
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Augusta Vera Duthie (18 July 1881 Belvidere, Knysna – 8 August 1963 Belvidere, Knysna) was a South African botanist who studied the plants of the Western Cape and was a popular teacher who lectured on cryptogamic botany. She was the first university lecturer in botany who was entirely educated in South Africa.

Early life and education

One of five children, she was born to Archibald Hamilton and Augusta Vera Duthie and in Knysna, South Africa.[1] She obtained a B.A. from Huguenot College in 1901, a M.A. from South African College in 1910, and a D.Sc. from University of South Africa in 1929.[2]

Academic career

She was appointed as botany lecturer at Victoria College, now University of Stellenbosch in 1902. In 1912, she visited Cambridge University and worked with Albert Seward. In 1929, she completed flora of the Stellenbosch Flats, an alluvial area surrounding the college. After her retirement 1939, she returned to manage her family farm Belvidere where she died in 1963. In her will she bequeathed a sum of money to St Andrew's College, where she had taught, in order to fund scholarships.[3]

Eponyms

Major works

Book: Duthie, Augusta Vera . Vegetation and Flora of the Stellenbosch Flats with List of Vascular Cryptogams and Flowering Plants Found in that Area. 1900. University of South Africa. Pretoria. 0.

Commemoration

She is commemorated by the stained glass window in the north wall of the Holy Trinity Church in Belvidere near Knysna, the church was founded by her ancestor, Thomas Henry Duthie.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Creese. Mary R.S.. Creese. Thomas M.. Ladies in the laboratory III South African, Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian women in science : nineteenth and early twentieth centuries : a survey of their contributions. 2010. Scarecrow Press. Lanham, Md.. 9780810872899. 14–17.
  2. Book: Beolens, Bo.. The eponym dictionary of mammals. 2009. Johns Hopkins University Press. Watkins, Michael, 1940-, Grayson, Michael.. 978-0-8018-9533-3. Baltimore. 118. 593239356.
  3. Web site: History of Holy Trinity Church, Belvidere . Holy Trinity Anglican Church . 13 May 2019 .