Maria Callcott

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maria Callcott (1819), painted by Thomas Lawrence

Lady Maria Callcott , ad. Graham, b. Dundas (born July 19, 1785 in Papcastle near Cockermouth , † November 28, 1842 in Kensington ) was a British botanist and author . She went on numerous trips and was considered a lively and unconventional woman by her contemporaries.

Life

Lady Maria Callcott was born to Admiral George Dundas. As a child she developed a keen interest in plants. She was particularly concerned with flowering plants and trees . She grew up on the Isle of Man and Cheshire . She attended school in Oxford . In 1808 she accompanied her father on a sailing trip to India . There she met the captain Thomas Graham, whom she then married; with him she went on a trip through India. She returned to England in 1811. Shortly afterwards she settled in Italy for some time . She then went on a trip to South America with her husband . When he died during this tour, Maria decided to continue the trip on her own. In Valparaíso in Chile she worked as a teacher for half a year . Then came home to England. There she made the acquaintance of the artist Augustus Wall Callcott , whom she subsequently married. With him she went on a long journey through Italy.

Act

Lady Maria Callcott processed her travel experiences in the form of popular literature . She was also successful as a children's book author. As a botanist, she appeared in particular with the works Journal of a residence in India (1812), Journal of a voyage to Brazil (1814) and Scripture Herbal (1842). In addition to the text, she also made the illustrations herself in the book Scripture of Herbal. Her Brazilian plant collection is kept in the Kew Gardens .

Taxa named after Callcott

The plant species: Escallonia callcottia and the genus Graemia were named in her honor.

further reading

  • Susanne Knecht: Flora Tristan and Maria Graham, Lady Callcott. The second discovery of Latin America . EVA, Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-434-50573-3 .

swell

  • Renate Strohmeyer: Lexicon of the natural scientists and women of Europe . Verlag Harri Deutsch, ISBN 3-8171-1567-9 , p. 65

Web links

Commons : Maria Graham  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Callcott, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Graham, Maria; Dundas, Maria (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British botanist and author
DATE OF BIRTH July 19, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Papcastle at Cockermouth
DATE OF DEATH November 28, 1842
Place of death Kensington (London)