Harold Garnet Callan FRS

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(15 March 1917, in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

– 3 November 1993), known as Mick Callan, was an English

zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...

and

cytologist Cell biology (also cellular biology or cytology) is a branch of biology that studies the structure, function, and behavior of cells. All living organisms are made of cells. A cell is the basic unit of life that is responsible for the living an ...

. He is especially remembered for his work on Lampbrush chromosomes.

Life

Callan was born in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

the son of Garnet George Callan, a naval architect, and Winifred Edith Brazier, a teacher. He was educated at King's College School in Wimbledon, and then won a place at St John's College at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

graduating with a First Class MA in Zoology in 1938. After initially finding employment at the John Innes Institute in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, he won a scholarship and jumped at the chance of working at the

Stazione Zoologica The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn is a research institute in Naples, Italy, devoted to basic research in biology. Research is largely interdisciplinary involving the fields of evolution, biochemistry, molecular biology, neurobiology, cell biol ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. This was initially to study sex hormones of the octopus. It was here that he first saw Lampbrush chromosomes, which became his lifetime obsession. His studies in

were interrupted by the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Mick initially joined the RAF, rising from Flight Lieutenant to Squadron Leader, as a highly competent airman. He was then transferred into

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

research and operation. After the war, then newly married, he moved to work at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, and from there to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

to work under the famed biologist Conrad Hal Waddington. Here he worked in the Research Unit of Animal Genetics from 1946 to 1950. In 1950, Callan gained a D.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh. He then received a professorship (the Kennedy Chair in Natural History) at

St Andrews University The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, following the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, t ...

, replacing Prof

D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson Sir D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson CB FRS FRSE (2 May 1860 – 21 June 1948) was a Scottish biologist, mathematician and classics scholar. He was a pioneer of mathematical and theoretical biology, travelled on expeditions to the Bering Strait ...

, and stayed in this role from 1950 to 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) 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 establis ...

in 1952 and a Fellow of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1963.

awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1984. He served as a Trustee of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

from 1963 to 1966. In 1981, Callan became a founding member of the

World Cultural Council The World Cultural Council is an international organization whose goals are to promote cultural values, goodwill and philanthropy among individuals. The organization founded in 1982 and based in Mexico, has held a yearly award ceremony since 198 ...

. He promoted scientific advancement within the Soviet Bloc, travelling three times to Russia and once to China, in the interests of scientific advancement. His final (post-retiral) research was spent largely with Dr Joe Gall in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, working on ''snurposomes'' and RNA-packaging. He died at home, Feuchside near

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

, on 3 November 1993.

Family

Mick met his wife, Amarillis Maria Speranza Dohrn in

and they married there in 1944. They had one son and two daughters.

Publications

*''Chromosomes and Nucleoli of the Axolotl, Ambystoma Mexicanum.'' In: ''J Cell Sci'' 1, 1966: 85–108
PDF
*''Lampbrush Chromosomes'' (1986)

References

External links

RSE obituary (pdf)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Callan, Harold Garnet 1917 births 1993 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Royal Society Founding members of the World Cultural Council People from Maidenhead Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II Academics of the University of St Andrews People educated at King's College School, London 20th-century English zoologists Royal Air Force officers