Cynthia Evelyn Longfield (16 August 1896 – 27 June 1991) was an Anglo-Irish
entomologist
Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...
and explorer and the first woman member of the Entomological Society.
She was an expert on the
dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threate ...
and an explorer.
She was called "Madame Dragonfly" for her extensive work.
She was passionately fond of dragonflies and her dominant area of interest was natural history. She travelled extensively and published ''The Dragonflies of the British Isles'' in 1937. She worked as a research associate at the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
, London.
Longfield was the expert on the dragonflies at the museum, researching particularly African species.
Early life
Cynthia Evelyn Longfield was born on 16 August 1896, on Pont Street,
Belgravia
Belgravia () is a Districts of London, district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of both the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' Tudor Period, during the ...
, London. She was the youngest daughter of Montifort and Alice Longfield, of Castle Mary,
Cloyne
Cloyne () is a small town to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork. It is also a see city of the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese. St Colman's Cath ...
, County Cork. She had two sisters. Alice Longfield grew up near Oxford, and was the daughter of a scientist. Alice died in 1945.
The family home at Castle Mary was burned down in 1920 by rebels, and Park House was rebuilt on the grounds.
Career
Longfield joined the
Army Service Corps during
the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, later moving to an aircraft factory on Fullham Road. She visited South America between December 1921 and March 1922. She travelled to the Andes and Lake Titicaca. In 1923 she travelled to Egypt, where she caught a scorpion at the tomb of Ramases IX.
In the same year answered an advertisement to join Evelyn Cheesman of London Zoo on a research trip to the Pacific, specifically the Galapagos Islands. They sailed aboard the St George, which left Dartmouth on 9 April 1924. She collected coleoptera and lepidoptera as an assistant to an entomologist, Cyril Collenette.
The pair used machetes to hack through the undergrowth of the Amazon jungle to collect specimens for the Natural History Museum of London. She joined the Entomological Society of London in 1925, and later the same year joined the Royal Geographical Society.
She was the first woman member of the Entomological Society.
In 1926 she joined the London Natural History Society. She was elected president of the society for 1932 and 1933.
On 28 March 1938 she joined the Auxiliary Fire Service, and ensured that a turntable ladder was used upon the bombing of the department in April 1941, during WWII. Cyril Collenette stated that her actions in relation to this likely saved the Museum from destruction.
Longfield was a voluntary cataloguer at the Natural History Museum and was put in charge of work on dragonflies. She joined a six-month expedition to
Matto Grosso
Mato Grosso ( – lit. "Thick Bush") is one of the states of Brazil, the third largest by area, located in the Central-West region. The state has 1.66% of the Brazilian population and is responsible for 1.9% of the Brazilian GDP.
Neighboring ...
, Brazil in 1927, and returned with samples of 38 of species of dragonfly. Three of these species were previously unidentified.
The species ''Corphaeschna longfieldae'' is named in her honour. By 1937, Longfield had become an international authority on the subject of dragonflies and published a book entitled ''The Dragonflies of the British Isles''. The book quickly sold out, and earned her the name "Madame Dragonfly". She was appointed an honorary associated of the Natural History Museum in 1948.
In 1979 she donated dragonfly and damselfly specimens to the Royal Irish Academy, as well as her written records and more than 500 natural history books.
In 1983 she was elected the first Honorary Member of the British Dragonfly Society.
An exhibition entitled The Longfield exhibition was opened in the Royal Irish Academy on Dawson Street in 2006.
Death
Before her retirement from the Natural History Museum, Longfield purchased an apartment in Kensington, London, where she resided until her eventual retirement at age 60. In 1957, she returned to Castle Mary, the family estate, in
Cloyne
Cloyne () is a small town to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork. It is also a see city of the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese. St Colman's Cath ...
, County Cork where she lived until her death. She died aged 96 on 27 June 1991 and was buried in St. Coleman's Church of Ireland Cathedral, close to her home in
Cloyne
Cloyne () is a small town to the southeast of Midleton in eastern County Cork. It is also a see city of the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, while also giving its name to a Roman Catholic diocese. St Colman's Cath ...
.
Legacy
The Longfield Roberts Collection, a photograph album belonging to Longfield and taken and developed during the St George Expedition to the South Sea Islands in 1924 to 1925, is held by the
Royal Irish Academy
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA; ga, Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann), based in Dublin, is an academic body that promotes study in the sciences, humanities and social sciences. It is Ireland's premier List of Irish learned societies, learned socie ...
.
The c.800 photographs mainly depict the people and life on the ship and the flora and fauna of the
Pacific Islands
Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...
.
Works
* 1914. Royal Army Service Corps, driver (1914–1916)
* 1916. Aeroplane factory worker (1916–1918)
* 1924. St. George Expedition, Assistant Entomologist (unpaid)(1924–1925)
* 1936. Studies on African Odonata, with synonymy, and descriptions of new species and subspecies. ''Trans. R. ent. Soc.'' London 85(20): 467–498.
* (1936) Contribution à l'étude de la faune du Mozambique. Voyage de M.P. Lesne (1928–1929). 23e note – Odonata. ''Memórias e Estudos do Museu Zoológico da Universidade de Coimbra'', 89: 1–2 . Insecta. C. Longfield.
* (1945) – The Odonata of South Angola.'' Arquivos do Museu Bocage'', 16, Lisboa.
* (1955) – The Odonata of N. Angola. Publicações Culturais, Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang), Lisboa, 27: 11–63. ''Biologia. Entomologia. Angola''.
* (1959) – The Odonata of N. Angola. Publicações Culturais, Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang), Lisboa, 45: 11–42. ''Entomologia. Angola.''
* (1960) ''Dragonflies'' Corbet, P.S., Longfield, C.N. and Moore, N.W. New Naturalist No 41, Collins, London.
References
External links
Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Longfield, Cynthia
1896 births
1991 deaths
20th-century Irish explorers
Irish entomologists
Women entomologists
Odonatologists
New Naturalist writers
20th-century Anglo-Irish people
20th-century Irish women scientists
20th-century British zoologists
British Army personnel of World War I
Royal Army Service Corps soldiers
Irish women explorers