Selmar Schonland (15 August 1860 – 22 April 1940), originally spelt ''Schönland'', the founder of the Department of Botany at

Rhodes University Rhodes University () is a public research university located in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. It is one of four universities in the province. Established in 1904, Rhodes University is the prov ...

, was a German immigrant, who came to the Eastern part of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

in 1889 to take up an appointment as curator of the

Albany Museum The Albany Museum, South Africa, situated in Makhanda, South Africa, is affiliated to Rhodes University and dates back to 1855,Chinsamy, Anusuya. (1997). "Albany Museum, Grahamstown, South Africa." ''Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs''. Edited by Philli ...

. He came to

Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...

via a doctorate at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

and a post 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 ...

(1886–1889 as curator of the Fielding Herbarium and a lecturer in Botany). Working under Prof. Sir

Isaac Bayley Balfour Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, KBE, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Prof ...

and Prof. Sydney Howard Vines, he developed an interest in the family ''

Crassulaceae The Crassulaceae (, from Latin ''crassus'', thick), also known as the crassulas, the stonecrops or the orpine family, are a diverse Family (biology), family of dicotyledon angiosperms primarily characterized by succulent leaves and a form of phot ...

'' and contributed an account of this group to Engler & Prantl's ''Natürl. Pflanzenfamilien''. While at Oxford, he translated, with

Edward Bagnall Poulton Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton, FRS HFRSE FLS (27 January 1856 – 20 November 1943) was a British evolutionary biologist, a lifelong advocate of natural selection through a period in which many scientists such as Reginald Punnett doubted its ...

and

Arthur Shipley Sir Arthur Everett Shipley (10 March 1861 – 22 September 1927) was an English zoologist and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Shipley specialised in the study of parasitic worms. Biography Shipley was born in Walton-on-Thames, ...

August Weismann August Friedrich Leopold Weismann (; 17 January 18345 November 1914) was a German evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist. Fellow German Ernst Mayr ranked him as the second most notable evolutionary theorist of the 19th century, after Charl ...

's "Essays upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems". Coming to the museum in Grahamstown gave him the opportunity to broaden his interests and develop the second largest herbarium in South Africa which had been founded by W. G. Atherstone in 1860. His father-in-law, Peter MacOwan, had been its honorary curator from 1862 to 1869 before moving to

Somerset East Somerset East () (renamed KwaNojoli in 2023) is a town in the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. It was founded by Lord Charles Somerset in 1825. The Blue Crane Route follows the national road R63 (South Afri ...

. When MacOwan retired from his subsequent post as director of the

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Botanical Garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

and curator of the Cape Government Herbarium, he returned to Grahamstown and assisted Schonland in the development of the local herbarium. The Irish descendant Henry George Flanagan of the Eastern Cape contributed to this Herbarium with specimens, both in Grahamstown and in Cape Town, as did

Florence Mary Paterson Florence Mary Paterson, née Hallack, also known as Mrs. T.V. Paterson, (15 July, 1869, Port Elizabeth – 5 June, 1936, Redhouse) was a South African plant collector. Her specimens are kept in the herbarium of Albany Museum and the Bolus Herb ...

in 1909 and

Constance Georgina Adams Constance Georgina Adams (6 August 1883 – 21 June 1968), also known as Constance Georgina Tardrew, was a South African housewife and collector of botanical specimens. Known by the nicknames Connie and Daisy, Adams was born in Cape Town and spe ...

, who contributed her collection in 1919. Schonland approached one of the Rhodes Trustees, Dr.

Leander Starr Jameson Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, (9 February 1853 – 26 November 1917), also known as Starr Jameson, was a British colonial politician, who was best known for his involvement in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. Early life and family He w ...

to assist in funding. Jameson, soon to be elected Member of Parliament for Albany and Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, promised £50,000 without consulting his fellow Trustees. At first they refused to confirm the grant; then, persuaded by Schonland, they made over

De Beers The De Beers Group is a South African–British corporation that specializes in the diamond industry, including mining, exploitation, retail, inscription, grading, trading and industrial diamond manufacturing. The company is active in open-pi ...

Preference Shares to the value of £50 000 to Rhodes University College, founded by Act of Parliament on May 31, 1904. By the time Schonland retired, the Botany Department and Rhodes University had become an established centre of taxonomic research and learning in South Africa. He played a leading role in the Botanical Survey of South Africa which had been initiated by Pole Evans. He was a foundation member of the

South African Association for the Advancement of Science South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

, honorary member of the Geological Society of South Africa, foundation member and Fellow of the Royal Soc. of S. Afr. His name was originally spelt Schönland, but he later dropped the umlaut. He is commemorated in ''Schoenlandia'' L.Bol., ''Euphorbia schoenlandii'' Pax, ''Brachystelma schonlandianum'' Schltr. and ''Sebaea schoenlandii'' Schinz. Selmar Schonland married Peter MacOwan's daughter Flora in 1895 and was the father of Sir

Basil Schonland Sir Basil Ferdinand Jamieson Schonland OMG CBE FRS (2 February 1896 – 24 November 1972) was noted for his research on lightning, his involvement in the development of radar during World War II and for being the first president of the South ...

who contributed greatly to lightning research and radar development.

Publications

*August Weismann: ''Essays upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems'': Clarendon Press, Oxford (1889) : (Co-translator) *Botanical Survey of SA : ''Phanerogamic Flora of the Division of Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth'' : Memoir No.1 (1919) *Botanical Survey of SA : ''South African Cyperaceae'' : Memoir No.3 *Revision of the South African species of Rhus : Bothalia (1930)

References

Notes

Citations

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonland, Selmar 1860 births 1940 deaths People from Bad Frankenhausen People from Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt 20th-century South African botanists South African taxonomists South African museologists 19th-century German botanists German taxonomists German museologists Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Emigrants from the German Empire South African curators Immigrants to the Cape Colony

Publications

References

Notes

Citations

Further reading

External links