Joseph ("Joe") Smartt (born in West Ham,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, on 9 September 1931; died in Hedge End,

South Hampshire South Hampshire is a term used mainly to refer to the conurbation formed by the city of Portsmouth, city of Southampton and the non-metropolitan boroughs of Gosport, Fareham, Havant and Eastleigh in southern Hampshire, South East England. The ...

, on 7 June 2013), was a British geneticist with major contributions to the knowledge of crop evolution, especially of grain legumes.Obituary: Dr Joe Smartt
by ''Practical Fishkeeping''Dr Joe Smartt
by Dr. Michael T. Jackson

Education and early professional life

He received his primary education at the Forest Gate primary school. Smartt then completed a degree in botany from

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, graduating in 1952. He was a member of

Hatfield College Hatfield College is one of the constituent colleges of Durham University in England. It occupies a city centre site above the River Wear on the World Heritage Site peninsula, lying adjacent to North Bailey and only a short distance from Durha ...

. He subsequently studied at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

( Christ's College) for a diploma in agricultural science. Afterwards, he went to

Northern Rhodesia Northern Rhodesia was a British protectorate in Southern Africa, now the independent country of Zambia. It was formed in 1911 by Amalgamation (politics), amalgamating the two earlier protectorates of Barotziland-North-Western Rhodesia and North ...

(now

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

), where he worked on groundnuts. He completed his PhD in the Department of Genetics at

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...

(NCSU) in 1965. His thesis was on "Cross-compatibility relationships between the cultivated peanut ''Arachis hypogaea'' L. and other species of the genus ''

Arachis ''Arachis'' is a genus of about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the family (Fabaceae), native to South America, and was recently assigned to the informal monophyly, monophyletic ''Pterocarpus'' clade of the Dalbergieae. At ...

''".

Professional life

He worked in plant breeding programs in Africa. After returning to England, he was employed by the Department of Botany of

Southampton University The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities in the United K ...

from 1967 to 1996. Initially, he was a Lecturer in Genetics, while achieving the status of Reader in Biology in 1990. Southampton University honoured Smartt by awarding him a Doctor of Science (

DSc DSC or Dsc may refer to: Education * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dyal Sin ...

) in 1989 for his work on the genetics and evolution of crop plants. Smartt authored two books on grain legumes, edited a major volume on groundnuts, and was invited to co-edit a second edition of the important ''Evolution of Crop Plants'' with the late Professor Norman Simmonds.

Bibliography (selection)

On fish

Smartt, J. (2008). Goldfish Varieties and Genetics: Handbook for Breeders. John Wiley & Sons. Smartt, J. (2007). A possible genetic basis for species replacement: preliminary results of interspecific hybridisation between native crucian carp Carassius carassius (L.) and introduced goldfish Carassius auratus (L.). Aquatic Invasions 2(1):59–62. Smartt, J. & Bundell, J. H. (1996). Goldfish breeding and genetics. TFH.

On the evolution of crop plants and grain legumes

Books

Nwokolo, E. & Smartt, J. (Eds.). (1996). Food and feed from legumes and oilseeds. Chapman & Hall, London. Simmonds, N. W. & Smartt, J. (1999). Principles of crop improvement, 2nd edn. Blackwell Science, Oxford. Smartt, J. & Simmonds, N. W. (1995). Evolution of crop plants, 2nd edn. Longman Scientific & Technical. Smartt, J. (1994). The groundnut crop: a scientific basis for improvement. Chapman & Hall Ltd. Smartt, J. (1990). Grain legumes: evolution and genetic resources. Cambridge University Press. Smartt, J. (1976). Tropical pulses. Longman Group Limited. Smartt, J. (1965), Cross-compatibility relationships between the cultivated peanut ''Arachis hypogaea'' L. and other species of the genus ''Arachis''. PhD thesis, North Carolina State University.

Scientific articles

Erskine, W., Smartt, J. & Muehlbauer, F. J. (1994). Mimicry of lentil and the domestication of common vetch and grass pea. Economic Botany 48(3):326–332. Harder, D. K. & Smartt, J. (1992). Further evidence on the origin of the cultivated winged bean, ''Psophocarpus tetragonolobus'' (L.) DC.(Fabaceae): Chromosome numbers and the presence of a host-specific fungus. Economic Botany 46(2):187–191. Smartt, J. (1986). Evolution of grain legumes. VI. The future—the exploitation of evolutionary knowledge. Experimental Agriculture 22:39–58. Smartt, J. (1985d). Evolution of grain legumes. V. The oilseeds. Experimental Agriculture 21:305–319. Smartt, J. (1985c). Evolution of grain legumes. IV. Pulses in the genus ''Phaseolus''. Experimental Agriculture 21:193–207. Smartt, J. (1985b). Evolution of grain legumes. III. Pulses in the genus ''Vigna''. Experimental Agriculture 21:87–100. Smartt, J. (1985a). Evolution of grain legumes. II. Old and New World pulses of lesser economic importance. Experimental Agriculture 21:1–18. Smartt, J. (1984). Evolution of grain legumes I. Mediterranean pulses. Experimental Agriculture 20:275–296. Smartt, J. (1980). Some observations on the origin and evolution of the winged bean (''Psophocarpus tetragonolobus''). Euphytica 29(1):121–123.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smartt, Joseph British geneticists Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham North Carolina State University alumni 1931 births 2013 deaths