Amy Frances May Gordon Jacot Guillarmod (née Hean) (23 May 1911 – 1992), was a South African botanist and limnologist, noted for her work on the flora of

Basutoland Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), th ...

and some 200 publications, including numerous papers on

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main Wetland#Types, types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, ...

and sponges.

Education and academic career

She matriculated at the

Durban Girls' High School Durban Girls' High School (known to the students of the school as DGHS) is a public high school for girls located in Glenwood, a suburb of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1882 and is home to over 1200 students. Nose-st ...

, leaving for

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

shortly after. Jacot Guillarmod was awarded an MA in English and History at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

, but inspired by

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait an ...

, switched interests and started an MSc degree in

Botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

Zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

at the same university. On her return to South Africa, she taught briefly in Durban and was then appointed plant pathologist in the ''Division of Botany and Plant Pathology'' of the Department of Agriculture in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

. Her first papers dealt with the viral diseases of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

and other crops. She spent the years between 1940 and 1957 in Basutoland. In 1956/7 she became Head of the Botany Department of the Pius XII College in

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. Jacot Guillarmod founded the Roma Herbarium in 1956. In 1958 she and her family moved to

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

when she took up an appointment as lecturer in the Botany Department of

Rhodes University Rhodes University is a public university, public research university located in Makhanda, Eastern Cape, Makhanda (Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, ...

. Her links with Basutoland were not forgotten, and in 1967 she received a

DSc DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

for her research on the flora of Basutoland. She is commemorated in ''Merxmuellera guillarmodiae'' Conert, ''Navicula jacotiae'' F.R. Schoeman, ''Pinnularia guillarmodiae'' F.R. Schoeman and a number of other organisms. Volume 50, part 1 (1988) of The

Flowering Plants of Africa ''Flowering Plants of Africa'' is a series of illustrated botanical magazines akin to ''Curtis's Botanical Magazine'', initiated as ''Flowering Plants of South Africa'' by I. B. Pole-Evans in 1920. It is now published by the South African Nati ...

was dedicated to her. Her specimens number some 10 000 and are mainly from

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

and the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

, housed at the following herbaria: PREM, PRE, RUH, GRA, MASE, K and MO.

Personal notes

During her stay in Pretoria in the 1930s when working for the Department of Agriculture, she found time to play hockey, and represented

Northern Transvaal Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a r ...

. During the same period she met a fellow employee and her future husband, the entomologist Charles Frédéric Jacot-Guillarmod (1912–1979), who later became curator of the

Albany Museum The Albany Museum, South Africa is situated in Grahamstown in South Africa, is affiliated to Rhodes University and dates back to 1855,Chinsamy, Anusuya. (1997). "Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa." ''Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs''. Edited by ...

. She shared

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

's birthday and was noted for a joint annual celebration. Despite the other members of her family hyphenating their name, she insisted on not doing so.Pers. comm. from François Jacot-Guillarmod

Works

* * *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jacot Guillarmod, Amy Frances May Gordon 20th-century South African botanists South African women botanists South African limnologists 1911 births 1992 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews Alumni of Durban Girls' High School 20th-century South African women scientists Women limnologists