John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan

John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan
Born	1917 Chislehurst
Died	1985 Kew
Nationality	British
Scientific career
Fields	Botany
Author abbrev. (botany)	Brenan

John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan (1917–1985) was a British botanist who became director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Brenan was born on 19 June 1917 in Chislehurst and died on 26 September 1985 at Kew.^[1][2] A funeral requiem was held on 3 October 1985 at St. Anne's Church, Kew with a memorial service on the 23rd; he is buried at St. Anne's.^[3][1]

Brenan received his Master of Arts in Biology from the University of Oxford in 1940 and began to work at the Imperial Forestry Institute (now the Oxford Forestry Institute)^[4] in Oxford. He collected plants from 1947 to 1948 in what is today Zambia and Tanzania.

He began work at the herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1948 and became head of its African section in 1959. He became a member of the Linnean Society of London in 1952. In 1965, he became head of the herbarium and assistant director and became director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1976. He was a member of several learned societies, and was president of the Association of Tropical Botany from 1970 to 1971, and of the Botanical Society of the British Isles in 1982.

His papers are held at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Library and Archives.^[5]

This botanist is denoted by the author abbreviation Brenan when citing a botanical name.^[6]

See also

• Brenandendron
• Brenania
• Micklethwaitia

References

1. Verdcourt, Bernard (1987). "John Patrick Micklethwait Brenan (1917–1985)". Kew Bulletin. 42 (2): 286–296. JSTOR 4109685.
2. Bell, A (1986). "Professor J P M Brenan". Journal of the Kew Guild. 10: 483 – via ISSUU.
3. Sands, Martin J S (1986). "News of Kewites at home and abroad in 1985". Journal of the Kew Guild. 10: 461 – via ISSUU.
4. Oxford Forestry Institute Archived 2 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine at www.plants.ox.ac.uk
5. "Brenan, John Patrick Micklethwait (1917–1985) Botanist". The National Archives (UK). Retrieved 15 March 2021.
6. Brummitt, R. K.; Powell, C. E. (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 978-1-84246-085-6.

Further reading

• Desmond, Ray (1994). Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists including Plant Collectors, Flower Painters and Garden Designers. Taylor & Francis and the Natural History Museum, London. ISBN 0-85066-843-3