Dr Walter Mykura

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

FGS (1926–1988) was a Czech-born geologist working in Britain. Known as Wally Mykura he served as President of the Edinburgh Geological Society 1975 to 1977. He was awarded the Clough Medal in 1982 and the T. N. George Medal in 1987.

Life

He was born in Falkenau,

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, in what was then

Czechoslavakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

(now

Sokolov, Czech Republic Sokolov (, until 1948 Falknov nad Ohří; german: Falkenau an der Eger) is a town in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts Villages of Hrušková and Novina and area of former village ...

) in 1926, the son of Franz Mykura. His family came to Britain in 1938 as refugees. He was educated at Yardleys Grammar School in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

1938 to 1941. Walter saw service in the

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

but was too young for active service. He studied Geology at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

from 1946, graduating BSc in 1950. He then joined the Geological Survey group in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. In 1970 he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...

. In 1976 his alma mater awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc). He retired following a stroke in 1985. He died suddenly as the result of being struck by a car on 13 May 1988 in

Family

Walter was married to Alison. They had three sons and a daughter including Hamish Mykura.

Publications

*''The Geology of the Neighbourhood of Edinburgh'' (1962) *''British Regional Geology:

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

'' (1976) *''The Geology of Western Shetland'' (1976) *''Sand and Gravel Resources of the Highland Region'' (1978) *''Mineral Deposits of Europe'' (1982) *''The Old Red Sandstone West of Loch Ness'' (1983) *''Edinburgh Memoir'' *''West Shetland Memoir''

References

1926 births 1988 deaths Alumni of the University of Birmingham 20th-century British geologists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Accidental deaths in Scotland Czechoslovak emigrants to the United Kingdom {{Czech-bio-stub