Sarie Magdalena Perold (née Lombard; 19 May 1928 – 11 November 2011) was a South African

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 ...

and bryologist who specialised in the study of

liverwort Liverworts are a group of non-vascular land plants forming the division Marchantiophyta (). They may also be referred to as hepatics. Like mosses and hornworts, they have a gametophyte-dominant life cycle, in which cells of the plant carry ...

s. She was particularly known for her extensive work on African thallose liverworts, especially the genus ''

Riccia ''Riccia'' is a genus of liverworts in the order Marchantiales. Description These plants are small and thalloid, i.e. not differentiated into root, stem and leaf. Depending on species, the thallus may be strap-shaped and about 0.5 to 4 m ...

''.

Early life and education

Born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

, to a teacher father and a housewife mother who ran a nursery school, Perold graduated from Kensington high school in 1945 with four distinctions and received her B.Sc. degree from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

in 1949, majoring in anatomy and

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology that studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissue (biology), tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at large ...

. She had originally wanted to study medicine like her brother but had to settle for

medical technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...

instead.

Career

She worked as a laboratory technician in various institutions from 1950 to 1967, and co-authored four papers while at the Wits Medical School. In 1979, at the age of 51, Perold began her career in bryology at the Botanical Research Institute (later the

South African National Biodiversity Institute The South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) is an organisation tasked with research and dissemination of information on biodiversity, and legally mandated to contribute to the management of the country's biodiversity resources. ...

). She initially worked as an assistant to Dr. Robert Magill on southern African mosses before beginning her research on Ricciaceae at the suggestion of Professor O.H. Volk of the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

. Despite her late start in the field, she became one of the leading experts on African liverworts. She authored over 100 scientific papers and published the first fascicle of the liverwort volume in the ''Flora of southern Africa'' series. She described 53 new liverwort

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; : taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular name and ...

, including 36 in the family Ricciaceae.

Recognition

Her contributions to botany were recognised with several awards, including the R.A. Dyer Prize (1992), the Junior Captain Scott Medal (1993), and the South African Association of Botany Silver Medal (2011). Perold served on the

International Association for Plant Taxonomy The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...

's permanent Nomenclature Committee for Bryophytes from 2000 to 2005. Perold was highly regarded in the international bryological community and maintained regular correspondence with leading experts worldwide. She frequently hosted visiting bryologists and participated in international conferences, including presenting papers at several South African Association of Botanists congresses and attending two Association pour l'etude taxonomique d'Afrique tropicale congresses abroad. Perold was known for her meticulous research and detailed taxonomic work. She collected more than 5,000 specimens across South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi, Réunion, and Zimbabwe. Although she officially retired in 1993 at age 65, she continued her research work on a part-time basis until 2009. She taught bryology to second-year botany students at the University of Pretoria from 1992 to 1997.

Personal life

She was married to the writer and film director Jan Perold, known for Afrikaans feature films such as ''Die ruiter in die nag'' (1963). She died peacefully in her sleep in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

on 11 November 2011, aged 83.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perold, Sarie Magdalena 1928 births 2011 deaths South African botanists Women bryologists South African taxonomists People from Johannesburg University of the Witwatersrand alumni University of Pretoria alumni 20th-century South African scientists 21st-century South African scientists