Norman Loftus Bor CIE OBE FRSE FLS FNI (2 May 1893 – 22 December 1972) was an Irish botanist. He was awarded the Linnean Medal of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1962.

Life

Bor was born in

Tramore Tramore (; ) is a seaside town in County Waterford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. With humble origins as a small fishing village, the area saw rapid development upon the arrival of the railway from Waterford City in 1853. Initially, the ...

, County Waterford in Ireland in 1893, the son of E.C.N. Bor and Mabel Thornton. He studied at Kilkenny and Mountjoy School in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. He then received a BA at Trinity College, Dublin before travelling to Scotland to obtain a BSc at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted ...

in 1921. On graduating he received a post in the Indian Forest Service where he worked until 1946. During this period (in 1931) he married Eleanor Constance Rundall. During the First World War he served in the

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Foot (wh ...

in France, Greece and Palestine. He was wounded in 1916. In 1946 he returned to Britain, and in 1948 took the post of Assistant Director of

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He held this post until 1959 when he retired. His wife died in 1957. They had no children. In 1962 the

awarded him their gold medal, the highest recognition a botanist can receive. He died in London in 1972. He was an elder brother of the actor

Max Adrian Max Adrian (born Guy Thornton Bor; 1 November 1903 – 19 January 1973) was an Irish stage, film and television actor and singer. He was a founding member of both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In addition to his succ ...

, who died four weeks after him.

Memberships

*Member of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

*President of the Indian Botanical Society *Fellow of the

*Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1947)

Works

*List of the Grasses of Assam (1938) *Flora of Assam (1940) *Floras of Cyprus and Iraq *Manuals of Indian Botany (1953) *Some Beautiful Indian Climbers and Shrubs (1954)

Botanical reference

References

1892 births 1972 deaths People educated at Kilkenny College People educated at Mount Temple Comprehensive School Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire Officers of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Linnean Medallists 20th-century Irish botanists People from County Waterford {{Ireland-scientist-stub