| Della Purves | |
| Birth Date: | 6 July 1945 |
| Birth Place: | Paisley, United Kingdom |
| Death Place: | Edinburgh, United Kingdom |
| Nationality: | British |
| Education: | St Margaret's Convent, East of Scotland College |
| Field: | Botanical Illustration |
Rodella Anne Purves (6 July 1945 – 17 January 2008) was a British botanical artist.[1]
Purves was born in 1945 in Paisley, Scotland, and two years later moved to Edinburgh with her family, where she attended St. Margaret's School. She received a degree in agriculture from Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture. She trained at Cambridge as a seed tester.[1]
She spent a year in New Zealand, working for the government's Department of Industry, before returning to Edinburgh to work at the Royal Botanic Garden.[2]
Purves left the Botanic Garden in 1976 to concentrate on her career as a botanical artist. Her work was exhibited around the world, in the United States, Ireland, Japan and Germany, with the Queen's Royal Botanist describing her as one of Britain's leading artists.[2] She was awarded the Jill Smythies Award in 1998.[3]
Purves died on 17 January 2008 in Edinburgh, Scotland.[2]