Sir Rowland Harry Biffen FRS (28 May 1874, in

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

– 12 July 1949) was a British

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

mycologist Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their taxonomy, genetics, biochemical properties, and use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, food, traditional medicine, as well as entheogens, poison, and ...

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic process ...

and a professor of agricultural botany at the University of Cambridge who worked on breeding wheat varieties. He was also a gifted artist known for his landscapes in watercolours. He was the founder of the '' Journal of Agricultural Science''.

Biography

Biffen was the oldest child of Henry John who was headmaster of Christ Church school in

, and his wife, Mary. After studying at

Cheltenham Grammar School Pate's Grammar School is a grammar school with Academy (English school), academy status in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It caters for pupils aged 11 to 18. The school was founded with a fund bestowed to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, ...

, he graduated from

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

, in 1898 after being Frank Smart student in botany at

Gonville and Caius College Gonville and Caius College, commonly known as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348 by Edmund Gonville, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges an ...

. He went on an expedition to the Caribbean and South America to examine rubber production soon after graduation. He then worked as a university demonstrator, researching fungi under

Harry Marshall Ward Harry Marshall Ward (21 March 1854 – 26 August 1906), FRS, , was a British botanist, mycologist, and plant pathologist. He was one of the first scientists to study physiological plant pathology Born in Hereford, the eldest child of Francis ...

and obtained a patent for the handling of rubber latex. He published a number of papers on mycology between 1898 and 1902 and subsequently became president of the

British Mycological Society The British Mycological Society is a learned society established in 1896 to promote the study of fungi. Formation The British Mycological Society (BMS) was formed by the combined efforts of two local societies: the Woolhope Naturalists' Fiel ...

in 1905 and again in 1930. In 1908, Biffen was appointed the first professor of agricultural botany at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, a post he held till 1931. He won 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 ...

Darwin Medal The Darwin Medal is one of the medals awarded by the Royal Society for "distinction in evolution, biological diversity and developmental, population and organismal biology". In 1885, International Darwin Memorial Fund was transferred to the ...

in 1920. Biffen was the first director of the

Plant Breeding Institute The Plant Breeding Institute was an agricultural research organisation in Cambridge in the United Kingdom between 1912 and 1987. Founding The institute was established in 1912 as part of the School of Agriculture at the University of Cambridge. ...

, which became part of the

John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

in 1994, and was an early proponent of using genetics to improve crop plants. His primary research plant was

wheat Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...

. Among the most important wheat varieties he bred were Little Joss (1910. named inadvertently by Sir

Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction Romance (literary fiction), romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the Lost World (genre), lost world litera ...

) and Yeoman (1916). Biffen founded the ''Journal of Agricultural Science'' and instrumental in the founding of the Genetical Society in 1918 and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1914, was knighted in 1925, and received an honorary DSc in 1935 from the University of Reading. He had married Mary Hemus of Upton upon Severn in 1899 and they had no children. Biffen also took an interest in watercolour painting, gardening (with a special interest in auriculas), botany, photography, and archaeology. He died in Cambridge.

References

External links

Portrait
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biffen, Rowland Henry 1874 births 1949 deaths Scientists from Cheltenham People educated at Pate's Grammar School Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge English botanists English mycologists Fellows of the Royal Society Knights Bachelor Professors of the University of Cambridge