Obituary

Abstract

Marjorie Eileen Doris Courtenay-Latimer was bom in 1907. As a girl, she lived in various country towns in the Eastern Cape and Free State and, encouraged by her parents, she developed a deep love of and interest in nature. She was always on the lookout for interesting things and her curiosity and tenacity in pursuing questions until she had answers led her to make many important contributions to natural history. Most famous is her role in saving the first coelacanth known to western science, named Latimeria chalumnae after her as a tribute. This earned her admiration and respect from the scientific community the world over, and put East London and the East London Museum on the world map.