Marianne or Edda Fannin (2 March 1845 – 18 November 1938) was an Irish

botanical artist Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical ...

, known for her work painting the flora of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. She was regarded as one of the principle South African botanical artists of her time.

Life

Marianne Edwardine Fannin was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

on 2 March 1845, the daughter of Thomas and Ellen Fannin. When Fannin was a few months old, her family emigrated from Dublin to

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

. Initially they lived on the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

. They then took up residence on the

Dargle The River Dargle () is a river that flows from the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland to the Irish Sea. It forms Powerscourt Waterfall, receives the Glencree and Glencullen Rivers, and later the Glenmunder Stream / County Brook, and the Swan River ...

, a tributary of the

Umgeni River The Umgeni River or Mgeni River ( zu, uMngeni) is a river in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It rises in the "Dargle" in the KZN Midlands, and its mouth is at Durban, some distance north of Durban's natural harbour. The name is taken to mean "the r ...

, and it was named after the

River Dargle The River Dargle () is a river that flows from the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland to the Irish Sea. It forms Powerscourt Waterfall, receives the Glencree and Glencullen Rivers, and later the Glenmunder Stream / County Brook, and the Swan River ...

near Dublin by Fannin's father. The local district is now known by the name Dargle. Fannin first married the Reverend Eustace Wilberforce Jacob in 1869. The couple travelled to England in 1871, with Jacob dying soon after their arrival. Fannin remained in England for a period, studying music and painting. She returned to South Africa in 1875. From 1878, she lived in

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

, marrying the Reverend Alfred Roberts in 1879 whom she met through a mission party. Roberts later went on to become an

archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

in the Diocese of Pretoria. The couple lived in

Potchefstroom Potchefstroom (, colloquially known as Potch) is an academic city in the North West Province of South Africa. It hosts the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. Potchefstroom is on the Mooi Rivier (Afrikaans for "pretty river" ...

from 1881 to 1896, where they had two sons. Their son, Dr Austin Roberts, went on to become an eminent ornithologist. Fannin was one of the founding member of

St. Mary's Diocesan School for Girls, Pretoria St. Mary's Diocesan School for Girls is an Anglican private school, private boarding school for girls situated in Hillcrest, Pretoria in the Gauteng province of South Africa, St Mary's DSG was founded in 1879 by the Rt Revd Henry Bousfield, the ...

, and Roberts served as headmaster of the boys' school St Birinus's. In 1881, during the siege of

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 ...

, Fannin returned to the family home in

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ...

. Fannin died on 18 November 1938, either in

Heidelberg, Gauteng Heidelberg is a town with 35,500 inhabitants in the Gauteng province of South Africa at the foot of the Suikerbosrand next to the N3 highway, which connects Johannesburg and Durban. History Heidelberg began in 1862 as a trading station built by ...

, or at New Muckleneuk,

Artistic career

Fannin appears to have been a self-taught artist. She was encouraged by her older brother, George Fox Fannin a keen botanist, to study the local flora of South Africa. Their interest lay primarily in

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

and

Asclepiadoideae The Asclepiadoideae are a subfamily of plants in the family Apocynaceae. Formerly, they were treated as a separate family under the name Asclepiadaceae, e.g. by APG II, and known as the milkweed family. They form a group of perennial herbs, twin ...

(milkweeds). This interest led to Fannin pressing and painting the plants George collected and sending the illustrations to

William Henry Harvey William Henry Harvey, FRS FLS (5 February 1811 – 15 May 1866) was an Irish botanist and phycologist who specialised in algae. Biography Harvey was born at Summerville near Limerick, Ireland, in 1811, the youngest of 11 children. His father ...

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. Harvey was so impressed by her paintings, he named an orchid in her honour, crediting her as its discoverer. Around 1869, Fannin painted an album detailing the flowers of Natal. In 1878, Fannin was a member of a mission party led by Bishop

Henry Bousfield Henry Brougham Bousfield (27 March 1832 – 10 February 1902) was a colonial Anglican priest and the inaugural Bishop of Pretoria 1878-1902. Life Bousfield was born on 27 March 1832, the son of William Cheek Bousfield, a barrister. He was ...

, and during their journey from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

to Pretoria Fannin made sketches of the surrounding countryside. Whilst living in Transvaal, Fannin painted wildflowers and landscapes. Her flower paintings are held by the School of Botany,

. Her landscapes are held in private collections in South Africa.

Eponymous taxa

*''

Disperis ''Disperis'' is a genus of plants in the orchid family, Orchidaceae. It has about 78 species.Mark W. Chase, Kenneth M. Cameron, John V. Freudenstein, Alec M. Pridgeon, Gerardo A. Salazar, Cássio van den Berg, and André Schuiteman. 2015. "An upd ...

fanniniae'' Harv. 1863 *''

Sisyranthus ''Sisyranthus'' is a group of plants in the family Apocynaceae first described as a genus in 1838. It is native to southern Africa. ;Species References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6130038 Apocynaceae genera Asclepiadoideae Flora of Southern Afric ...

fanniniae'' N.E. Br. *''

Streptocarpus ''Streptocarpus'' ("twisted fruit" from Greek στρεπτός (''streptos'') "twisted" and καρπός (''carpos'') "fruit") is an Afrotropical genus of flowering plants in the family Gesneriaceae. The genus is native to Afromontane biotopes ...

fanniniae'' Harv. Ex C. B. Cl.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fannin, Marianne 1845 births 1938 deaths 19th-century Irish painters 19th-century Irish women artists 20th-century Irish painters 20th-century Irish women artists Cape Colony artists Artists from Dublin (city) Botanical illustrators Irish illustrators South African painters Irish women illustrators South African women illustrators South African illustrators