Person

Curtis, Winifred (1905 - 2005)

AM

Born
15 June 1905
London, England
Died
14 October 2005
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Occupation
Author, Botanist, Educator and Plant taxonomist

Summary

Winifred Curtis was an influential botanist, educator and author. She took up a position at the University of Tasmania in 1940 and subsequently was involved in establishing the Department of Botany (1945). She lectured in Botany there until her retirement in 1966. Her frustration with the directive to instruct Australian students using British educational texts led her to write The students' flora of Tasmania (1956 - 1994). The specimens collected to support this project are in the Tasmanian Herbarium. (Volume 1 was revised with Dennis Morris in 1975.) Her other major monograph was The endemic flora of Tasmania, a collaboration with botanical artist Margaret Stones, published between 1967 and 1978. Curtis also conducted significant research in plant embryology and cytology. Several plants have been named in her honour, including the genus Winifredia (Restionaceae) which is endemic to Tasmania.

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Details

Chronology

1927
Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University College in London
1931 - 1932
Career position - Biology Teacher at Levenshulme High School in Manchester
1933 - 1939
Career position - Biology Teacher at South Hampstead High School
1939
Life event - Settled in Australia
1939
Education - Master of Science (MSc), University College, London
1941 - 1946
Career position - Curator (part-time), Tasmanian Herbarium
1943 - 1945
Career position - Assistant Lecturer in Botany, University of Tasmania
1945 - 1951
Career position - Lecturer in Botany, University of Tasmania
1950
Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University College, London
1951 - 1956
Career position - Senior Lecturer in Botany, University of Tasmania
1956 - 1966
Career position - Reader in Botany, University of Tasmania
1966
Life event - Retired
1966
Award - Clive Lord memorial Medal, Royal Society of Tasmania
1968
Education - Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc), University College, London
1976
Award - Recipient of the Australian Natural History Medallion
1977
Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM)
1987
Award - Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Tasmania
1988
Award - Recipient of the Australian Plants Award
1994
Award - Mueller Medal, Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science
1997
Award - Named Hobart Citizen of the Year

Related Corporate Bodies

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

  • McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regularly edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details

Books

  • Curtis, Winifred M.; and Morris Dennis I., The student's flora of Tasmania, 4 vols (Hobart: Government Printer, 1956-1994). Details
  • Curtis, Winifred; illustrations by Stones, Margaret, The endemic flora of Tasmania, 6 vols (London: Ariel Press, 1967-1978). Details

Book Sections

  • Curtis, W. and Somerville, J., 'The vegetation [of Tasmania]' in Handbook for Tasmania : prepared for the members of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science on the occasion of its Meeting held in Hobart, January 1949, Cerutty, Leonard, ed. (Hobart: Government Printer, 1949), p. [51]. Details
  • Curtis, Winifred M., 'Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton (1817-1911), botanist and explorer' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 4: 1851 - 1890 D-J, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1972), pp. 416-417. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hooker-sir-joseph-dalton-3789. Details
  • Kantvilas, Gintaras, 'Winifred Mary Curtis: a biographical sketch' in Aspects of Tasmanian botany : a tribute to Winifred Curtis, Banks, M. R., ed. (Hobart: Royal Society of Tasmania, 1991), pp. 1-6. Details

Edited Books

  • Banks, M. R. [and others] ed., Aspects of Tasmanian botany : a tribute to Winifred Curtis (Hobart: Royal Society of Tasmania, 1991), 247 pp. Details

Journal Articles

Resources

See also

  • Hooker, Claire, Irresistible Forces: Australian Women in Science (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2004), 215 pp. Details

Ken McInnes

Created: 25 May 2001, Last modified: 23 December 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P003371b.htm

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