Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons
Born(1901-02-07)February 7, 1901
Pietermaritzburg, Colony of Natal
DiedAugust 1, 1975(1975-08-01) (aged 74)
Pretoria, South Africa
Alma materRhodes University
Scientific career
FieldsHerpetology, Plant collector
InstitutionsTransvaal Museum, Namib Desert Research Station
Notes

Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons, born in Pietermaritzburg, was a notable herpetologist in South Africa. Also, he contributed to the collection of spermatophyte samples for the National Herbarium which has become part of the South African National Biodiversity Institute at the Pretoria National Botanical Garden.[2] In 1937, together with Anna Amelia Obermeyer, he collected some of the earliest plant specimens from the Eastern Highlands of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

Later, as director of the Transvaal Museum, he together with Charles Koch[3] helped to establish the Namib Desert Research Institute in Gobabeb[2]

Family

Vivian FitzSimons came from a family of naturalists. His father, Frederick William FitzSimons, and his mother Patricia Henrietta (née Russell), both immigrated to South Africa from Ireland.[4]

His brother was Desmond Charles Fitzsimons, who in 1939 founded the Fitzsimons Snake Park (Durban) and was a leading distributor of snake antivenoms in South Africa.

Vivian FitzSimons attended the prestigious Grey High School in Port Elizabeth.

List of written works

Some of his writings include:

Notable posts

Species described

As a leading herpetologist at the Transvaal Museum, Vivian was involved in the original description of as many as 41 South African reptiles, including the following species.[5]

Eponyms

Vivian FitzSimons is commemorated in the scientific names of four reptiles.[7]

References

  1. ^ http://www.ssarherps.org/pdf/HOH/HoH121.pdf [dead link]
  2. ^ a b c "FitzSimons, Vivian Frederick Maynard (1901-1975)". Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Vivian Fitzsimons". South African History Online (SAHO). Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  4. ^ "South African History Online: Vivian Fitzsimons". Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  5. ^ "The Reptile Database". Retrieved 17 October 2014.
  6. ^ FitzSimons VF (1930). "Descriptions of new South African Reptilia and Batrachia, with distribution records of allied species in the Transvaal Museum collection". Annals of the Transvaal Museum. 14: 20–48.
  7. ^ Beolens, Bo; Watkins, Michael; Grayson, Michael (2011). The Eponym Dictionary of Reptiles. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. xiii + 296 pp. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5. ("FitzSimons, V.", p. 91).

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