Matthew Fontaine Maury Meiklejohn (24 June 1913 – 14 May 1974) was an English professor of languages who held the Stevenson Chair for Italian studies at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

for twenty-five years. He was also a noted amateur

ornithologist Ornithology, from Ancient Greek ὄρνις (''órnis''), meaning "bird", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study", is a branch of zoology dedicated to the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related discip ...

. It has been claimed that he was among the first "

twitcher Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, ...

s" who invented the idea of birding "life list". Meiklejohn was born in

Harpenden Harpenden () is a town and civil parish in the City and District of St Albans in the county of Hertfordshire, England. The population of the built-up area was 30,674 in the 2021 census, while the population of the civil parish was 31,128. Harpe ...

, Hertfordshire, where he took an early interest in natural history and went to Gresham's School, Holt, and then to

Oriel College Oriel College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title formerly claimed by University College, ...

at Oxford with a scholarship and graduated with first class honours in French and Italian in 1934. He then moved to

Merton College Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor ...

(1936–1938) with a Harmsworth Scholarship. He was influenced by many ornithologists including

David Lack David Lambert Lack FRS (16 July 1910 – 12 March 1973) was a British evolutionary biologist who made contributions to ornithology, ecology, and ethology. His 1947 book, ''Darwin's Finches'', on the finches of the Galapagos Islands was a land ...

Hugh Elliot Hugh Elliot (6 April 1752 – 1 December 1830) was a British diplomat and then a colonial governor. Education and early career Hugh Elliot was born on 6April 1752, the second son of Sir Gilbert Elliot, and the younger brother of Gilbert E ...

, James Fisher, and

Wilfred Backhouse Alexander Wilfrid Backhouse Alexander (4 February 1885 – 18 December 1965) was an English ornithologist and entomologist. He was a brother of Horace Alexander and Christopher James Alexander. Alexander was born at Croydon in Surrey, England in 1885 ...

. He then went to teach at

Cape Town University The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest university in South Afri ...

and joined the South African army and worked to gather intelligence in Kenya, Egypt and Italy. He worked at the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

in Teheran after the war. He taught Italian at Leeds before being the Stevenson Chair of Italian at Glasgow University. He died after a brief illness and on his request, his ashes were scattered on the Isle of May, his favourite haunt for bird study. He published many notes on birds from the age of fourteen. In later life he examined the

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's knowledge of ornithology and studied Emperor Frederick II's ''

De Arte Venandi cum Avibus ''De Arte Venandi cum Avibus'' () is a Latin treatise on ornithology and falconry written in the 1240s by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. One of the surviving manuscripts is dedicated to his son Manfred. Manuscripts of ''De arte venandi cu ...

''. He also ran a very popular column of lighter writing in the ''Glasgow Herald'' under the initials MFMM. This series ran from 1951 to 1974 and included more than a thousand articles. He is also famous for his humorous hoax on the

bare-fronted hoodwink The Bare-fronted Hoodwink (''Dissimulatrix spuria'') was a hoax and satirical wastebasket taxon, wastebasket species of bird created by ornithologist M. F. M. Meiklejohn. The Hoodwink has the ability to be "almost seen" or "almost captured". Bir ...

(''Dissimulatrix spuria'') published in ''Bird Notes'' in 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meiklejohn English ornithologists Academics of the University of Glasgow 1913 births 1974 deaths 20th-century British zoologists Alumni of Merton College, Oxford