William Wright Smith

Biography

He is the son of James T. Smith, farmer in the Dumfriesshire and the Williiam young person very early acquires the love of nature and his native soil. He makes his studies until his sixteen years with the Academy of Dumfries. He then intends to become schoolmaster. He then leaves to study at the university of Edinburgh and tries to obtain the diploma for the schoolmasters of Moray House School Training. After obtaining its diploma, he officiates during ten years as schoolmaster. But its interest for the Natural science the conduit to become the assistant of Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour (1853-1922) and reader within the small department of botany of the university of Edinburgh. Its tasks are varied and it deals particularly with Mycologie: in addition to its functions of readers, it organizes mycologic exits on the ground to train the students with the recognition of the Champignon S.

In 1907, it with the possibility of leaving Scotland to leave in India where, under the authority of the governor of the Bengal, he becomes preserving Herbier Botanical garden of Calcutta. After four years of service, it is named director of the botanical garden as well as botanical research service of India, it also receives the task to deal with the Lloyd botanical garden of Darjeeling. It develops to with it a solid knowledge of the flora of India and Burma as well as other areas tropical thanks to the S in culture in the garden.

Its functions also include objectives of a practical nature. Smith thus directs two large farms of seedlings of Quinquina in the district of Darjeeling as well as a factory with Mungpu charged to draw from it the alcoloïde contained in the tally sheet from quinquina, used to manufacture Quinine, principal drug for the fight against the Paludisme. Smith also has charges the distribution and the sale with it with this drug.

In the botanical field, it can organize and take part in the botanical study of valley hitherto unexplored of the the Himalayas. In 1909, it goes up towards the sources of the rivers Llonakh and Zemu, in the North-West of the province Sikh, areas that Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) had not been able penetrated because of the impenetrability of the forests of Rhododendron. These areas are so inhospitable, that the nomads Tibetans are the only ones which venture there and what a few months in the year. The following year, it explores the Chumbi valley in Tibet. It piles up sufficient documents then so that it publishes Records off the Botanical Survey off India .

Smith returns to Scotland in 1911 to the invitation of Sir Balfour to become the assistant of the director of the botanical garden of Edinburgh. It arrives at the same time as the material piled up by George Forrest (1873-1932) during her forwarding in China. The experience gained by Smith in India is useful to him for the study of its collections that George Forrest continues to forward to Scotland to the wire of her forwardings to the border of Tibet and of Burma like in the province of the Yunnan. For these collections is necessary to add those of Reginald John Farrer (1880-1920) and Francis Kingdon-Ward (1885-1958) in China, the three collectors competing for the discovery of new species. This work leads to the description of more than 550 unknown species hitherto.

During the First World War, it has in load the production of wood in Scotland and then starts to be interested in the forestry questions. It succeeds Sir Balfour, in 1922, as royal professor with the Université of Edinburgh and royal conservative of the Botanical garden of the university. It supervises several important publications in particular on the S Rhododendron and especially Primula , kind for which it is assisted by Harold Roy Fletcher (1907-1978).

Its courses are very famous and it continues to organize exits on the ground for its students. Smith also endeavors to put in culture, in the botanical garden, of many additional species. He contributes to enrich the Arboretum by Edinburgh which becomes one of richest world.

Annoblit in 1932, he becomes member of the Royal Society in 1945 and of various others learned societies, he chairs in particular the Royal Society of Edinburgh of 1944 1949. It receives various honorary titles like a science doctorate with the Université of Toulouse and a Doctorat off Laws with the Université of Aberdeen. The royal Company of Edinburgh decrees the Makdougall-Brisbane medal, the royal Société of horticulture the Médaille Victoria of the honor in 1925 and the to him Médaille Veitch in 1930, the Société of horticulture of Massachusett the medal George Robert White. Smith is member honorary of the American Academy off Arts and Sciences. It Marie with Emma Wiedhofft, union of which he will have three girls.

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