David Gerald Hessayon

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 1928) is a British author and botanist of

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

descent who is known for a best-selling series of paperback

gardening Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants as part of horticulture. In gardens, ornamental plants are often grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants, such as root vegetables, leaf vegetables, fruits ...

manuals known as the "Expert Guides" under his title Dr. D. G. Hessayon. The series started in 1958 with ''Be Your Own Gardening Expert'' and in 2008 it celebrated its 50th anniversary and the 50 millionth copy in print. They have become the best selling gardening books in history.

Early life

Hessayon is the son of a Cypriot landowner and grew up in Salford, Lancashire, England. He gained a Bachelor of Science degree in botany from Leeds University. In 1950, he travelled to the United States where he worked as the editor of a small town newspaper. In 1953, he went to the Gold Coast as a Research Fellow at the University College before returning to Manchester to obtain his doctorate in soil ecology. In 1955, he accepted a position as chief scientist with

Pan Britannica Industries Pan Britannica Industries Ltd (PBI) was a household and agrochemical formulation company based at Britannica House, Stewardstone Road, Waltham Abbey and with a distribution presence in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. PBI was, in common with many othe ...

Ltd (PBI), becoming chairman in 1972. It was whilst working for PBI that Dr. Hessayon formulated the idea for his "Expert" guides to gardening.

The "Expert" guides

A steady stream of publications followed the initial ''Be Your Own Gardening Expert'', each maintaining the basic formula of down-to-earth writing broken up into short sections with headers, and illustrated with what were at the time lavish numbers of colour photographs, graphic images and charts. In later editions the ''Be Your Own ...Expert'' titles were changed to ''The ... Expert''. On the British bestsellers list for the 1980s, two Experts were in the Top 10. There are () over 20 "Expert" titles in 22 languages and in Britain their sales continue to dominate the gardening paperback lists. ''The Vegetable & Herb Expert'' continues to be the best seller.

Recognition

In 1993, Hessayon received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement award at the British Book Awards. He was also awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1992 for his contribution to the advancement and improvement of the science and practice of horticulture. In 1999, he was awarded a Guinness World Records certificate for being Britain's "bestselling non-fiction author of the 1990s". Despite a resolve to stay out of the limelight, Hessayon has received further awards - a Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Garden Media Guild The British Garden Media Guild (formerly The Garden Writers' Guild) is a trade organisation for professional garden writers, journalists, photographers, broadcasters and members of allied trades. The Guild was established in to improve the qua ...

, three honorary doctorates David Hessayon , Honorary graduations 2008 , Media , University of Leeds
and, in 2007, an

Bibliography

Since 1959, Hessayon has written many books. Cover 1959 Expert

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hessayon, D. G. 1928 births Living people English gardeners Veitch Memorial Medal recipients English people of Cypriot descent Officers of the Order of the British Empire British garden writers Gardens in the United Kingdom Alumni of the University of Leeds British expatriates in the United States British expatriates in Ghana