David Lister (18 April 1930 – 13 February 2013) was the world's leading

origami ) is the Japanese art of paper folding. In modern usage, the word "origami" is often used as an inclusive term for all folding practices, regardless of their culture of origin. The goal is to transform a flat square sheet of paper into a f ...

historian. He was a founding member of the

British Origami Society The British Origami Society is a registered charity (no. 293039), devoted to the art of origami (paper folding). The Society has 700 members worldwide and publishes a bi-monthly magazine called "British Origami". They also have a library which is ...

. He wrote its constitution and served as its first president.

Personal life

Born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

, Lister was educated at a state school in Grimsby before earning a degree in history at Downing College, Cambridge. He then worked as a solicitor in

. Lister had three children and six grandchildren.

Origami

Lister was interested in Origami since he was young, but took it up in earnest in 1955 after seeing

Robert Harbin Robert Harbin (born Edward Richard Charles Williams; 12 February 1908 – 12 January 1978) was a British magician and author. He is noted as the inventor of a number of classic illusions, including the ''Zig Zag Girl''. He also became an author ...

on television in the children’s show ''Mr Left and Mr Right''. He corresponded with Lillian Oppenheimer and became a member of the Origami Portfolio Society founded in 1965. In 1967 he was an inaugural member of the

and its first president, a position he also held from 1998 to 2002. During his life he built a large library that included 5,000 origami related items. He researched the history of origami and corresponded with most of the founders of modern origami. He became prominent after his retirement when he became increasingly involved in Origami and the British Origami Society. He was considered a world authority on the culture and

history of origami The history of origami followed after the invention of paper and was a result of paper's use in society. In the detailed Japanese classification, origami is divided into stylized ceremonial origami (儀礼折り紙, ''girei origami'') and recreati ...

, and contributed articles on the history of origami to magazines throughout the world. He was also interested in string figures, recreational mathematics, heraldry, and Chinese pottery, among other things. The library he put together on his various interests grew to a final size of more than 25,000 books.

References

External links

The Lister List
– A collection of 115 essays by Lister.
Origami History
– Contains more writings by Lister. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lister, David Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge People from Grimsby 1930 births 2013 deaths Origami artists