Wikipedia

Miriam Rothschild

Dame Miriam Louisa RothschildDBEFRS(5 August 1908 – 20 January 2005)[2]was a British natural scientist and author with contributions tozoology,entomology,andbotany.

The HonourableDame
Miriam Rothschild
DBEFRS
Born
Miriam Louisa Rothschild

(1908-08-05)5 August 1908
Ashton,Northamptonshire,England
Died20 January 2005(2005-01-20)(aged 96)
Oundle,Northamptonshire, England
Known forResearch onfleas
Spouse
​
​
(m.1943;div.1957)​
Children6, includingCharles Daniel Lane
AwardsH. H. Bloomer Award(1968)
Scientific career
FieldsEntomology,botany
Institutions
Tertiary education:

Early life

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Miriam Rothschild was born in 1908 inAshton Wold,nearOundleinNorthamptonshire,the daughter ofCharles Rothschildof theRothschild banking family of Englandof Jewish bankers andRózsika Edle Rothschild(néevon Wertheimstein), aHungariansportswoman, ofAustrian-Jewishdescent.[3]Her brother wasVictor Rothschild, 3rd Baron Rothschildand one of her sisters (Kathleen Annie) Pannonica Rothschild (BaronessNica de Koenigswarter) would later be abebopjazzenthusiast and patroness ofThelonious MonkandCharlie Parker.[4]

Her father had described about 500 newspeciesofflea,and her uncleLionel Walter Rothschildhad built a private natural history museum atTring.By the age of four she had started collectingladybirdbeetles and caterpillars and taking a tamequailto bed with her.World War Ibroke on the eve of Miriam's sixth birthday in 1914, while the Rothschilds were holidaying inAustro-Hungary.They hurried home on the first westward train but, unable to pay, had to borrow money from a Hungarian passenger who commented "This is the proudest moment of my life. Never did I think that I should be asked to lend money to a Rothschild!" Her father took his own life when she was 15, after which she became closer to her uncle. She was educated at home until the age of 17, when she demanded to go to school. She thence attended evening classes inzoologyatChelsea College of Science and Technologyand classes during the day in literature atBedford College, London.[5]

Personal life

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Appearing on television programmeAfter Darkin 1988

DuringWorld War II,Rothschild was recruited to work atBletchley ParkoncodebreakingwithAlan Turingand was awarded aDefence Medalby the British government for her efforts.[6]Additionally, she pressed the UK Government to admit moreGermanJewsas refugees fromNazi Germany.[7]She arranged housing for 49 Jewish children, some of whom stayed at her home atAshton Wold.[8][7]The estate also served as a hospital for wounded military personnel, including her future husband, CaptainGeorge Lane.Lane, a Hungarian-born British soldier, had changed his name from Lanyi in case of enemy capture.[9][1]They had six children, four biological: Mary Rozsiska (1945–2010),Charles Daniel(born 1948), Charlotte Teresa (born 1951) and Johanna Miriam (born 1951);[10]and two adopted.[11]The marriage was dissolved in 1957 but the pair remained on good terms.[9]

Rothschild was avegetarianand had a close connection to her pets and wild animals that she befriended.[12]Rothschild supported many social causes including animal welfare,[9]free milk for children in schools,[7]and gay rights by contributing to theWolfenden Reportwhich resulted in decriminalising "homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private".[8]

Research

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During the 1930s Rothschild made a name for herself at the Marine Biological Station inPlymouth,studying themolluscNuculaand itstrematodeparasites (Rothschild 1936, 1938a, 1938b).

Rothschild was a leading authority onfleas.She was the first person to work out the flea's jumping mechanism. She also studied the flea's reproductive cycle and linked this, inrabbits,to the hormonal changes within the host. HerNew Naturalistbook on parasitism (Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos) was a huge success. Its title can be explained as: external parasites (e.g. fleas), internal parasites (e.g. flukes) and others (the cuckoo is a 'brood parasite'). Along with Professor G. Harris, Rothschild determined thatmyxomatosis,a virus affecting tapeti and brush rabbits, was spread by fleas, not mosquitoes as previously understood.[2]The Rothschild Collection of Fleas (founded by Charles Rothschild) is now part of theNatural History Museumcollection and her six-volume catalogue of the collection (in collaboration withG. H. E. Hopkinsand illustrated byArthur Smith) took thirty years to complete.[2]

In addition to her work on fleas and other parasites, Rothschild studied insects in the orderLepidoptera.Specifically, she was interested inchemical ecologyandmimicry.To learn more about mimicry and its role in Lepidopteran predation by birds, Rothschild adapted greenhouses on herAshton Woldestate to serve as aviaries for owls and other potential predators. This led to further work to identify the compounds synthesized by insects such asBurnet mothand collaboration withTadeusz Reichsteinto show that a monarch butterfly's toxicity comes frommilkweed,its larval host plant.[2]It also resulted in work to demonstrate the importance of plant-derivedcarotenoidsin insect coloration. Rothschild discovered that Large white cabbage butterfly caterpillars fed a diet without carotenoids did not match their background as they typically would and Monarch butterfly caterpillars' pupae had silver threads instead of gold.[2]

Another area of Lepidoptera research that Rothschild pursued was that of the production of antibiotics by butterflies.[13]This work was initially inspired by observations Rothschild made during an anthrax outbreak in the 1930s, but did not begin in earnest until around 60 years later. Rothschild drafted a manuscript on the subject and the results were eventually published 12 years after her death.[13]

Rothschild was a member of the Oxford genetics school during the 1960s, where she met theecological geneticistE.B. Ford.[14]

Rothschild authored books about her father (Rothschild's Reserves – time and fragile nature) and her uncle (Dear Lord Rothschild). She wrote about 350 papers on entomology, zoology and other subjects.

Later in her career, Rothschild grew interested in hay meadow restoration. In response to a comment that it would take 1,000 years to reproduce a medieval meadow, she said "I could make a very good imitation in ten...it took me fifteen."[15]She developed multiple seed mixes on her Ashton Wold estate, including one she called "Farmer's Nightmare". Another seed mix was used by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, on hisHighgrove Estate.[8]

Awards/honours

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In 1973. Rothschild was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.She received honorary doctorates from eight universities, includingOxfordandCambridge,and was an Honorary Fellow ofSt Hugh's College, Oxford.[16]She gave theRomanes Lecturefor 1984–5 in Oxford. Rothschild was elected a Fellow of theRoyal Societyin 1985 and was granted the title ofDame Commander of the British Empirein 2000.[6]

Rothschild was a pioneer among women in entomology and became the first woman trustee of theNatural History Museum(1967–1975),[7]the first woman president ofRoyal Entomological Society(1993–1994),[2]the first woman to serve on the Committee for Conservation of theNational Trust,[9]and the first woman member of the eight-member Entomological Club.[2]

In 1986 the John Galway Foster Human Rights Trust was established; in 2006 the name of the trust was expanded to The Miriam Rothschild & John Foster Human Rights Trust. This funds an annual lecture on human rights. She is also honoured by the endowed Professorship in Conservation Biology in her name at University of Cambridge.[2]

Philanthropy

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Rothschild founded the 'Schizophrenia Research Fund' in 1962, in honour of her sister Liberty after Liberty was diagnosed and hospitalized withschizophrenia.[9]The Schizophrenia Research Fund is an independent registered charity formed "to advance the better understanding, prevention, treatment and cure of all forms of mental illness and in particular of the illness known as Schizophrenia". In March 2006, following Miriam's death, the name of the Fund was changed in her memory to the 'Miriam Rothschild Schizophrenia Research Fund'.[17]

The pioneer of BritishArt Therapy,Edward Adamsonand his partner and collaborator, John Timlin, were regular visitors toAshton Wold.Between 1983 and 1997, the influential Adamson Collection of 6,000 paintings, drawings, sculptures and ceramics by people living with major mental disorder atNetherne Hospital,created with Adamson's encouragement in his progressive art studios at the hospital, was housed and displayed to the public in a medieval barn at Ashton. Rothschild was both a Trustee and, subsequently, Patron of the Adamson Collection Trust. The Adamson Collection is now almost all re-located to theWellcome Library.All Adamson's papers, correspondence, photographs and other material are currently being organised as the 'Edward Adamson Archive', also at the Wellcome Library.

Selected works

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Books

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  • Rothschild, Miriam andClay, Theresa(1953)Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos: a study of bird parasites.The New Naturalist series. London: Collins
  • Hopkins, G. H. E. and Rothschild, Miriam (1953–81)An Illustrated Catalogue to the Rothschild Collection of Fleas6 volumes (4to.) London: British Museum (Natural History)[18]
  • Rothschild, Miriam (1983)Dear Lord Rothschild: birds, butterflies and history.London: Hutchinson (ISBN0-86689-019-X)
  • Rothschild, Miriam and Farrell, Clive (1985)The Butterfly Gardener.London: Michael Joseph
  • Rothschild, Miriam (1986)Animals and Man: the Romanes lecture for 1984–5delivered in Oxford on 5 February 1985. Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Rothschild, Miriam et al. (1986)Colour Atlas of Insect Tissues via the Flea.London: Wolfe
  • Rothschild, Miriam (1991)Butterfly Cooing Like a Dove.London: Doubleday
  • Stebbing-Allen, George; Woodcock, Martin; Lings, Stephen and Rothschild, Miriam (1994)A Diversity of Birds: a personal voyage of discovery.London: Headstart (ISBN1-85944-000-2)
  • Rothschild, Miriam and Marren, Peter (1997)Rothschild's Reserves: time & fragile nature.London: Harley (ISBN0-946589-62-3)
  • Rothschild, Miriam; Garton, Kate; De Rothschild, Lionel & Lawson, Andrew (1997)The Rothschild Gardens: a family tribute to nature.London: Abrams
  • Van Emden, Helmut F. and Rothschild, Miriam (eds.) (2004)Insect and Bird InteractionsAndover, Hampshire: Intercept (ISBN1-898298-92-0)

Papers

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  • Rothschild, M. (1936) Gigantism and variation inPeringia ulvaePennant 1777, caused by infection with larval trematodes.Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom20,537–46
  • Rothschild, M. (1938)a. Further observations on the effect of trematode parasites onPeringia ulvae(Pennant) 1777.Novavit Zool.41,84–102
  • Rothschild, M. (1938)b. Observations on the growth and trematode infections ofPeringia ulvae(Pennant) 1777 in a pool in the Tamar saltings, Plymouth.Parasitology,33(4),406–415. doi:10.1017/S0031182000024616
  • [many more]

References

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  1. ^ab"Obituary: Dame Miriam Rothschild".The Guardian.22 January 2005.Retrieved7 April2021.
  2. ^abcdefghvan Emden, Helmut F.; Gurdon, John (1 December 2006). "Dame Miriam Louisa Rothschild. 5 August 1908 — 20 January 2005: Elected FRS 1985".Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society.52:315–330.doi:10.1098/rsbm.2006.0022.S2CID116429025.
  3. ^Naomi Gryn,Rothschild, Dame Miriam,Jewish Women Encyclopedia,retrieved 3 March 2012
  4. ^Seymour, Miranda (23 October 2022)."The Rothschild Women Led Lives as Full as the Men's".The New York Times.Retrieved26 October2022.
  5. ^Rothschild, Miriam (22 January 2005)."Dame Miriam Rothschild".The Times.No. 68291.Retrieved13 April2021.
  6. ^abBess, Emilie (23 February 2015)."Famous Female Entomologists Part 1: Dame Miriam Rothschild".Entomology Today.Retrieved29 March2021.
  7. ^abcdMartin, Douglas (25 January 2005)."Miriam Rothschild, High-Spirited Naturalist, Dies at 96".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved29 March2021.
  8. ^abc"Miriam Louisa Rothschild (1908–2005)".The Rothschild Archives.Rothschild Family.Retrieved6 April2021.
  9. ^abcde"Dame Miriam Rothschild".Jewish Women's Archive.Retrieved6 April2021.
  10. ^"The Rothschild Years | Elsfield in the 20th Century".elsfield.net.Retrieved3 January2022.
  11. ^Martin, Douglas (25 January 2005)."Miriam Rothschild, High-Spirited Naturalist, Dies at 96".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 3 January 2022.Retrieved3 January2022.
  12. ^"Rothschild, Dame Miriam Louisa (1908–2005)".oxforddnb. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  13. ^abHowse, Philip E. (2021). "Understanding Butterly Mimicry: Miriam Rothschild's Seminal Posthumous Contribution".Antenna.45(3): 117–121.
  14. ^Rothschild, Hon. Dame Miriam (Louisa), (Hon. Dame Miriam Lane).Oxford University Press. 1 December 2007.doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u33265.Retrieved13 April2021.{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help)
  15. ^The CRT Archive (13 June 2016)."Robin Page interviews Miriam Rothschild".Archivedfrom the original on 22 December 2021.Retrieved13 April2021– via YouTube.
  16. ^"Dame Miriam Rothschild".Jewish Women's Archive.Retrieved26 November2023.
  17. ^"Schizophrenia Research Fund".sites.google.Archived fromthe originalon 17 April 2021.Retrieved6 April2021.
  18. ^"Rothschild (Charles) Collection of Fleas".Retrieved18 April2009.[permanent dead link‍]
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Further reading

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