Irene Manton

Irene Manton (born Irène Manton on April 17, 1904 in Kensington; died May 13, 1988) was a British botanist. She was noted for study of ferns and algae.

Biography

Irene Manton was born of a dentist and a descendant of French aristocracy. Hence her first name originally contained French influences, but at 18 she dropped this and opted for "Irene." In 1923 she attended Girton College, Cambridge. She found Cambridge unsatisfying, in part because the college as a whole was not yet welcoming of women, and later went on to study with Otto Rosenberg in Stockholm. She later received her PhD at University of Manchester with her thesis being on Cruciferae. Later she did notable work at the University of Leeds with the aid of the electron microscope. [ [http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:o67bz9Qf1ccJ:www.linnean.org/fileadmin/images/Publications/Irene_Manton_web_complete.pdf+%22irene+manton%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us Linnean Society biography] ] In 1969 she shared the Linnean Medal with Ethelwynn Trewavas. From 1973 to 1976 she became the first, and so for only, woman President of the Linnean Society of London. In 1990 the Irene Manton Prize for the best dissertation in botany during an academic year was established.

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