Sophie Charlotte Ducker (née von Klemperer) (9 April 1909 – 20 May 2004) was a German-born Australian

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 ...

. She was awarded the

Mueller Medal The Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS) is an organisation that was founded in 1888 as the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science to promote science. It was modelled on the British ...

in 1996.

Early life and education

Sophie Charlotte von Klemperer was born in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

on 9 April 1909. She was the daughter of Victor von Klemperer, a Jewish German who converted to Christianity upon marriage, and his wife Sophie von Klemperer (née Reichenheim). Sophie grew up in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and later studied at the Cheltenham Ladies' College in England. She began the study of botany at the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

and the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...

. She stopped her studies in 1931 when she married Dr Johann Friedrich Ducker, known as Friedrich. The couple’s only son, Klaus Heinrich Ducker, was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

on 22 September 1933. Sophie also had a stepson, Hanfried Ducker, from her husband’s previous marriage. The family faced persecution under the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

due to Sophie’s Jewish heritage and their anti-Nazi sentiments. Friedrich Ducker was forced to resign from his employment after he refused to divorce his wife. The family left Germany at the outbreak of hostilities and moved to

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran. They were unable to bring Hanfried as his passport was seized by Nazi authorities within days of the families’ departure. On 17 September 1941, Friedrich Ducker was arrested by the British Military Authorities and interned as an enemy alien. Sophie petitioned to accompany her husband with their young son and was also arrested. The family were later brought to Australia where they were interned at

Tatura Tatura is a town in the Goulburn Valley region of Victoria, Australia, and is situated within the City of Greater Shepparton local government area, north of the state capital (Melbourne) and west of the regional centre of Shepparton, Victoria ...

in Victoria. The family faced much persecution at the hands of the other German internees for their anti-Nazi sentiments. Cruel tricks were played on them and they were prevented from attending film nights. Young Klaus was so badly affected by the ill treatment that he was released from internment and sent to boarding school in Melbourne. On 3 February 1944, Sophie gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Catherine Sophie Ducker, at Waranga Hospital in Goulburn. The baby was buried at Tatura Cemetery the following day and later moved to Tatura (German) Military Cemetery. After recovering from the birth, Sophie returned to the camp where circumstances continued to deteriorate. The couple eventually successfully petitioned for their release and remained living in Australia.

Career

Sophie worked as a research assistant for Ethel Irene McLennan of the botany school at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. She completed a BSc there in 1952. In 1957, she became a botany lecturer at the university and, in 1961, a senior lecturer. She specialized in marine botany, especially

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

. Her husband Friedrich died in Melbourne in 1972. Sophie retired in 1974 but continued to conduct research, present papers and lecture. After her retirement, Sophie collaborated with Professor Bruce Knox at the University of Melbourne on

pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma (botany), stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, for example bees, beetles or bu ...

, particularly that of

seagrass Seagrasses are the only flowering plants which grow in marine (ocean), marine environments. There are about 60 species of fully marine seagrasses which belong to four Family (biology), families (Posidoniaceae, Zosteraceae, Hydrocharitaceae and ...

es. Sophie received a

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 ...

from the University of Melbourne in 1978. She also published biographies of early Australian botanists. Sophie was a founding member of the Australasian Society for Phycology and Aquatic Botany.

Awards

In 1993, Sophie was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the

. She received the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science's

in 1996. She was appointed

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM) in the 1997 Queen's Birthday Honours for "service to recording the history of botany in Australia, to education and to science, particularly in the field of marine botany".

Death

Sophie died at her home in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

at the age of 95. She was survived by her son Klaus, daughter-in-law Alison, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.

References

External links