Eleanor Mary Ord Laurie Isserlis (14 January 1919 - 17 March 2009) was a British mammalogist.

Early life

Laurie was born in 1919 to parents Elinor Beatrice Ord and

Robert Douglas Laurie (Robert) Douglas Laurie (27 October 1874 – 17 April 1953) was the founder and first president of the Association of University Teachers. Career He was born in Birkenhead and educated at Birkenhead School. He took a job in a bank until 1899 bef ...

. Her father was head of the Zoology Department at

Aberystwyth University Aberystwyth University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 stude ...

from 1918 until his retirement in 1940.

Education and career

Laurie was the head of the Mammal Department at the

British Museum of Natural History The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

. She graduated from

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

in 1942 with a Master of Science degree. In its 1949–1950 issue, the ''St Hugh's College Chronicle'' noted that she was appointed Senior Scientific Officer at the British Museum in its Zoology Department. She became a Fellow of the

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

in 1950; she withdrew from the Society in 1958.

Species described

Laurie described a number of new mammal species, including: *'' Dactylopsila tatei'' Laurie, 1952 *'' Microperoryctes papuensis'' (Laurie, 1952) *'' Hipposideros inexpectatus'' Laurie &

Hill A hill is a landform that extends above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, and is usually applied to peaks which are above elevation compared to the relative landmass, though not as prominent as Mountain, mountains. Hills ...

, 1954 *'' Miniopterus shortridgei'' Laurie & Hill, 1956

Selected publications

* * * *

Personal life

On 29 December 1949, she married Alexander Reginald Isserlis, who would become

Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister The Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is a senior official in the United Kingdom Civil Service who acts as principal private secretary to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The holder of this office i ...

in 1970. Together, they had two daughters.

Honors

In 2009, Helgen and Helgen named a new species of mouse after Laurie, ''Pseudohydromys eleanorae'', recommending the common name of Laurie's moss mouse.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Eleanor Mary Ord 1919 births 2009 deaths British mammalogists Alumni of St Hugh's College, Oxford Women mammalogists British women biologists 20th-century British zoologists 20th-century British women scientists Employees of the British Museum Fellows of the Linnean Society of London