The Fishy Smiths Read online

  Published by Penguin Books

  (an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd)

  The Estuaries No. 4, Oxbow Crescent (off Century Avenue), Century City, 7441 South Africa

  PO Box 1144, Cape Town, 8000 South Africa

  www.penguinrandomhouse.co.za

  First published in 2018

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  Copyright © in text, 2018: Mike Bruton

  Copyright © in images, 2018: Mike Bruton unless otherwise specified under Picture credits on page ix

  Copyright © in maps, 2018: Mike Bruton and Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd

  Copyright © in published edition, 2018: Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner(s).

  PUBLISHER: Pippa Parker

  EDITOR: Helen de Villiers

  DESIGNER: Ryan Africa

  COVER DESIGN: Janice Evans

  TYPESETTER: Deirdré Geldenhuys

  CARTOGRAPHER: Liezel Bohdanowicz

  PROOFREADER AND INDEXER: Emsie du Plessis

  ISBN 978-1-77584-646-8 (print)

  ISBN 978-1-77584-647-5 (ePub)

  FRONT COVER, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Margaret and JLB Smith with Marlin at Rhodes University in the early 1960s; Margaret and JLB Smith admiring colour plates of parrotfishes for the first Ichthyological Bulletin of Rhodes University in 1956; Margaret and JLB Smith illustrating and examining fishes on the 1951 expedition to Mozambique; JLB and Margaret Smith collecting specimens on the 1951 expedition.

  TITLE PAGE: Margaret and JLB Smith in Grahamstown in the 1950s.

  The secret of life is to have a task,

  something you devote your entire life to,

  something you bring everything to

  every minute of the day for the rest of your life.

  And the most important thing is,

  it must be something you cannot possibly do.

  – Henry Moore, sculptor

  Dedicated to the memory of JLB and Margaret Smith, and the students they spawned.

  CONTENTS

  Acknowledgements

  Picture credits

  Foreword

  Preface

  Southern Africa (map)

  East coast of Africa (map)

  1. JLB Smith’s childhood: Karoo to Bishops

  2. Young whippersnapper: Studies and pranks in Stellenbosch

  3. Chemistry rules: From student to senior lecturer

  4. Organic chemistry: Building a career in Grahamstown

  5. Henriette Pienaar: First marriage, and raising a young family

  6. Buchu to blacktails: Transition to ichthyology

  7. Margaret Mary Macdonald: A new lifetime partner

  8. Agony and ecstasy: Dramatic discovery of the first coelacanth

  9. Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer: Pioneering museum director

  10. William Smith: Larger than life

  11. Room to breathe: The difficult war years, and a new beginning

  12. Grit and determination: The epic East African expeditions

  13. Sea and shore dangers: Taking risks

  14. Bombing and poisoning fishes: Effective but controversial short cuts

  15. Jubilation: Publication of The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa

  16. The second coelacanth: ‘It was more than worth … all that long strain’

  17. Mending bridges: International collaboration on the coelacanth

  18. Growth of a legend: Significance of the coelacanth

  19. After the coelacanth: Consolidation and renewal

  20. Fishy correspondence: One man’s fish is another man’s poisson

  21. Old Fourlegs: The best fish book in the world

  22. Bigger fish to fry: Team building, and the endgame

  23. Tragedy and recognition: Death of JLB and a flood of accolades

  24. Lean as biltong: JLB under the microscope

  25. Margaret’s metamorphosis: Caterpillar to butterfly

  26. Triumph: Birth of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology

  27. Gone fishing: Ichthyology thrives in Grahamstown

  28. Fauna and Flora: Reconnecting in their dotage

  29. Pride and joy: The Smiths’ amazing legacy

  Postscript

  Photography

  Acronyms

  References and further reading

  Index

  Acknowledgements

  THE WRITING of this ambitious book would not have been possible without the support of a wide range of people. Firstly, I am very grateful to William Smith, son of JLB and Margaret Smith, and his wife, Jenny, for their patient and unwavering support of this endeavour. They not only provided valuable information, photographs, videos, radio interviews and rare archival material but also checked facts and provided strong support for the publication of the book. Ian Sholto-Douglas, son of Margaret Smith’s elder sister, Flora Sholto-Douglas, his wife, Ishbel, and their daughter, Catherine Braans, also provided valuable insights on the Smith and Sholto-Douglas families, as did Donald Brierley Smith, stepson of Bob Smith, on Bob’s family.

  Information on JLB Smith’s first wife, Henriette Cecile Pienaar, and her family, has been obtained from the archives of the Albany Cultural History Museum and the National Archives in Cape Town courtesy of Fleur Way-Jones, the ‘Murray Family Register 1794–1977’ compiled by Caroline Murray (1978), and the ‘Murray Family Register’ by Teo Louw (2012). I also obtained valuable information from interviews with members of the Pienaar family, especially Rénee Muller (née Rénee Pienaar de Klerk), eldest daughter of Henriette’s sister, Helene Pienaar, and therefore Henriette’s niece. Rénee knew Henriette Pienaar well as she lived with her, or was closely associated with her, for over 30 years. I also interviewed Rénee’s husband, John Anton Muller, and her younger sister, Andree-Jeanne Tötemeyer, and their cousin, Renette Schröder, all of whom confirmed the information that Rénee had shared with me. I am very grateful to them for their kind assistance.

  Many friends, acquaintances and colleagues of JLB and Margaret Smith from around the world responded positively to my questionnaire survey about their life and work. I am especially grateful to Shirley Bell, Nancy Tietz, Tesza Musto, Martin Davies, Allan Heydorn, John Wallace, Mary-Louise and Mike Penrith, Rudy van der Elst, George and Margo Branch and Hans Fricke for their comprehensive responses. Valuable information was also received from Lynnath Beckley, Keith and Rosemary Hunt, Mike Cluver, ‘Ticky’ Forbes, Kathleen Heugh, Jenny Day, Trevor Harrison, Jean-Pierre de Kock, Colin Buxton, Malcolm Smale, Rik Nulens, Christine Flegler-Balon, Arnand Read, Brian and Sue Allanson, John Minshull, Butch Hulley, Nikki Kohly, the Hewson family, Peter Spargo, Hamish Robertson, Anton Bok, Roy Lubke, Heather Tracey, John Gardener, Nick James and Alistair and Brenda Weir.

  The Managing Director of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), Angus Paterson, was a tower of strength throughout this project and allowed me to have unlimited access to the Institute’s resources. The way in which he embraced the project as if I was ‘part of the Institute’s DNA’ was very gratifying. Angus also kindly agreed to write the Foreword, and gave permission for me to use valuable photographs and documents from the Institute’s library and archives. The Senior Librarian at SAIAB, Sally Schramm, and the Librarian, Maditaba Meltaf, were extremely helpful throughout the project and went out of their way to help it succeed; it would not have been possible without their assistance. Past and present staff of SAIAB provided valuable information and insights, including Jean Pote, Wouter Holleman, Ofer Gon, Robin
Stobbs, Glenn Merron, Alan Whitfield, Paul Skelton, Eric Anderson and Penny Haworth.

  I am grateful to Cornelius Thomas, Director, and Kylie van Zyl, Rhodes University Archivist, at the Cory Library for Humanities Research at Rhodes University, for their unstinting support, as well as to Rob Gess and Helen Barber of the Albany Museum. I thank Geraldine Morcom, Director of the East London Museum, and the museum board for permission to use images from their archives.

  I am grateful to Michael Davies-Coleman, Mike Brown, Johann Maree, Trevor Letcher, Kelvin Rivett, John and Lizzie Rennie, David Roux and Daneel Ferreira for information on the careers of JLB Smith and Doug Rivett in chemistry, and to Nancy Tietz, Geraldine Morcom and Jeff Swanson for information on Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer. Paul Maylam kindly provided information on the history of Rhodes University and Sandy Shell, biographer of George Cory, offered valuable guidance on historical writing as well as useful information on Cory. I also thank Bronwyn Bruton, Karlien Breedt, Tony Bruton, Paul Murray, Anita Grant, Brian Ingpen, Jane Zimmerman, Irene McCulloch, Willie ‘Bomber’ Burger, Jan-Hendrik Hofmeyr, Graeme Murray, Claerwen Howie and Ken Gillings for further valuable information.

  I am deeply grateful to Pippa Parker, Publisher at Struik Nature, for agreeing to publish this biography and for guiding me through the publication process. The arduous task of editing the manuscript was carried out by Managing Editor, Helen de Villiers, whose meticulous attention to detail improved the manuscript immeasurably; once again, it was a pleasure working with her. I also thank Janice Evans for designing the book’s cover, and Ryan Africa and Deirdré Geldenhuys for the page design and typesetting, respectively; and Belinda van der Merwe for her energetic marketing.

  Finally, I thank my wife, Carolynn, for once again assisting me in a myriad ways and for creating space for me to write this tome. I am also grateful to Ryan, Tracey, Craig and Anja Bruton for their wholehearted support of my writing career.

  Picture credits

  American Museum of Natural History, New York 198; Shirley Bell 237; Peter Bruton: back cover; Cory Library for Humanities Research, Rhodes University 176; Diocesan College, Cape Town 5, 6, 7, 8; East London Museum 63, 64, 69a, b, 74, 85, 90, 91a, b, 92, 93, 94; Hans Fricke 88; Robert Gess 68; Wouter Holleman 229; Rénee Muller/Andree-Jeanne Totemeyer 30, 31, 33; Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris 196; NRF/SAIAB front cover a, b, c, d, title page, xii, 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16a, b, 17, 35, 36a, b, 37, 41, 43, 53, 56, 73, 75, 110, 115, 119, 121, 122, 130, 131, 136, 137, 140, 142, 151, 161a, b, 172, 180, 181, 182, 186, 187, 188, 192, 194, 208, 214, 215a, b, 216, 217, 221, 227, 228, 236, 244, 245, 246, 254, 264, 270, 280, 282, 285, 288, 289, 291a, b, 295b, 298, 302, 303, 309, 310, 311, 312, 319a, b, 323; John Rennie 81; Rhodes University 17a, 21; Rhodes University Archive in the Cory Library for Humanities Research 167, 199; William and Jenny Smith 32, 52, 97, 99, 100, 102, 103, 104, 106, 107; South African Air Force Museum, AFB Ysterplaat, Cape Town 179; South African Association for Marine Biological Research, Durban 251, 295a; Stellenbosch University 13; Robin Stobbs 223; Joan Teeton 19; Alan Whitfield 292.

  Foreword

  AS THE first director of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology (now the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity – SAIAB) who never met either of the Smiths, I find the timing of the writing of The Fishy Smiths – A Biography of JLB & Margaret Smith by Professor Mike Bruton to be entirely opportune. JLB passed away the year I was born and Margaret just before I got to Rhodes University as an undergraduate.

  As happens with life’s natural succession there has been a changing of the guard at SAIAB and many of those who knew the Smiths are now retired or have passed on. The new generation of researchers and students cannot help but be aware of the legacy of the Institute and the enormous contribution that the Smiths made to ichthyology in southern Africa, forever etched into the Institution’s DNA. However, as with any great historical story, time does have a way of massaging the past to a point where folklore and fact are sometimes intertwined and, with JLB having been quite an unconventional figure, there is no shortage of ‘JLB stories’. Both JLB and Margaret were rigorous scientists and I have no doubt would have wanted the telling of their lives and the broader story of ichthyology to be related as accurately as possible. This biography provides an honest treatment of the Smiths as real people, and their human flaws and phenomenal capabilities are dealt with in equal measure.

  The story of the Smiths is often told through the lens of the discovery of the coelacanth in 1938 and the subsequent hunt for a second specimen. Old Fourlegs gives a gripping account of this adventure, but the Smiths’ contribution to ichthyology was far broader and their lives so much more than the 14-year search period that spanned the disruptive years of the Second World War.

  While the coelacanth saga certainly provided the impetus for JLB’s and subsequently Margaret’s careers, in my mind their broader contribution to the field of ichthyology, and the formation of the JLB Smith Institute, eclipse the coelacanth discovery. This biography clearly outlines how a chemistry professor and his wife (and former student), through sheer determination, and at times against great odds, defined ichthyology in southern Africa in the 20th century and left a legacy that will extend well into the 21st. The Smiths’ direct scientific legacy is SAIAB, which is now a National Research Facility of the National Research Foundation, and the Department of Ichthyology & Fisheries Science at Rhodes University, both of which are internationally recognised centres of learning in ichthyology. These two institutions currently have a postgraduate school of over 90 students, 20 research staff, a fleet of vessels, specialised laboratories, offices in Port Elizabeth and Durban and, of course, the National Fish Collection. Graduates of these institutions are found in ichthyological research and fisheries management posts throughout the world and, to a person, are very proud alumni of the Smith legacy. Not bad for a boy from Graaff-Reinet and a young girl from Indwe – both small towns in the rural Eastern Cape!

  The Fishy Smiths biography clearly documents how the legacy the Smiths left to science was not the result of a single fortuitous discovery in 1938, but rather a result of decades of selfless, driven research. This was always underpinned by JLB’s obsessive work ethic and prodigious intellect; and by Margaret’s initial devotion to JLB and his research, and then her emergence as a leader in her own right.

  The book clearly unpacks the personalities of both JLB and Margaret and the forces that shaped them through their lives. The struggles, challenges and controversies in their lives, in childhood and as adults, both professional and private, are all examined, with the chapter on JLB’s first marriage to Henriette Cecile Pienaar, and their children, being covered in detail for the first time.

  Professor Bruton is undoubtedly the best person to have tackled a biography of this iconic couple: through his personal knowledge of the Smiths, his lifelong, deep connection with the Institute and his first-rate scientific and archival research capabilities, he has ensured an honest, gripping and seamless read. JLB’s Old Fourlegs was a publishing sell-out; the Fishy Smiths is worthy of carrying on this tradition.

  The biography stands as a testament to two amazing people and will enable researchers and students at both SAIAB and Rhodes University, and interested people worldwide, to fully understand the personalities behind the genesis of ichthyology in Grahamstown and southern Africa.

  DR ANGUS PATERSON

  MANAGING DIRECTOR, SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE FOR AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY

  MAY 2018

  Dr Angus Paterson, Managing Director of the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, with a coelacanth on the 75th anniversary of the first capture.

  Preface

  JAMES LEONARD Brierley (‘JLB’) Smith and Margaret Mary Smith (née Macdonald) were a remarkable pair of South African scientists who forged a working relationship that changed the course of ichthyology in South Africa. During their inspirational and eventful lives they overcame many obstacles and created opportunities for many others who foll
owed in their footsteps. Although they are best known locally and internationally for their research on the coelacanth, they contributed in many other ways to the scientific study of fishes (ichthyology), as well as to many other fields, yet neither of them has had a comprehensive biography written about them.

  JLB Smith (who was variously known as ‘Len’, ‘Leonard’, ‘LB Smith’, ‘JLB Smith’, ‘Doc’, ‘the Professor’ and ‘JLB’ during his lifetime) was best known for his work on fishes, although he was employed for a longer period as a chemistry researcher and teacher than as an ichthyologist. He was a chemistry academic for 24 years (1922–1946) and an ichthyologist for 22 years (1946–1968), but there was a considerable overlap between his two careers, and his most famous contribution to ichthyology (the description of the first coelacanth) took place during his tenure as a Senior Lecturer in Chemistry (1939). He was an active amateur ichthyologist from 1931 to 1939 but reverted mainly to chemistry during the Second World War. After initially aspiring to become a medical doctor, Margaret Smith sacrificed her career ambitions to partner and work with JLB Smith as an ichthyologist, fish illustrator and general factotum for 30 years from their marriage in 1938 until his death in 1968.

  As a budding young ichthyologist at Rhodes University I knew them both: JLB Smith briefly from January 1966 until his death in January 1968, and Margaret for 21 years, from January 1966 to her death in September 1987.

  I vividly recall an experience in 1966 during my first year at Rhodes University. After several unsuccessful attempts to breach the phalanx of JLB’s women protectors, I reached the ‘Holy of Holies’, where I asked the Great Man a few inane questions, and he politely answered. After 20 minutes I took my leave, but during our conversation he hadn’t once lifted his head from the microscope under which he was examining a fish. On another occasion he showed the second coelacanth specimen to a group of students. I reached out my hand to touch a scale and received a sharp rap over the knuckles with a ruler.