Name Helen Gwynne-Vaughan Role Botanist | Died 1967 Education King's College London | |
 | ||
Books Fungi: Ascomycetes, Ustilaginales, Uredinales, Fungi: Their Structure and Development | ||
Dame Helen Charlotte Isabella Gwynne-Vaughan, GBE (née Fraser; 21 January 1879 – 26 August 1967) was a prominent English botanist and mycologist.
Contents
Life and work
Helen Charlotte Isabella Fraser was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College and King's College London, and she also studied under Margaret Jane Benson, head of the Department of Botany at Royal Holloway College. In 1909, she was named head of the botany department at Birkbeck College in London. In 1911, she married David Thomas Gwynne-Vaughan, who died four years later.
In 1917, she was appointed Controller of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in France, alongside Mona Chalmers Watson, Chief Controller of the WAAC in London For her service she was the first woman to be awarded a military DBE in January 1918. She served reluctantly as Commandant of the Women's Royal Air Force (WRAF) from September 1918 until December 1919.
In 1923, she stood as the Conservative candidate in Camberwell North.
Honours and distinctions
Gwynne-Vaughan received her DBE just before her resignation in 1919. In 1921, she became a professor at Birkbeck College and continued her studies on fungi genetics as well as becoming involved in politics. In 1929, she was appointed GBE for public and scientific services.
She was also active in Girl Guides and was honoured with the Silver Fish. In 1930, Gwynne-Vaughan chaired the Guides' Sixth World Conference. At this conference, the constitution of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts was agreed and Olave Baden-Powell was unanimously voted World Chief Guide. Gwynne-Vaughan was first Chief Controller of the Auxiliary Territorial Service from 1939-41. She returned to Birkbeck and retired as Professor Emeritus in 1944.
Fungal species named in her honour include Palaeoendogone gwynne-vaughaniae and Pleurage gwynne-vaughaniae.