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see also:
- Out of Africa there is always something
new by J.A. van den Heever
-
Growth of a Collection (Ethnology Collection)
by E. M.Shaw
Keppel Harcourt Barnard:
Director of the South African Museum 1942-1956
During the War and post-War years Keppel Harcourt Barnard was Acting Director
from 1942 to 1946 and Director from 1946 - 1956. Collecting had to be curtailed,
displays had to be mounted at minimum cost and staff had to be content with very
poor pay. Nevertheless, the Museum kept up a good appearance, and attendances of
visitors reached record heights.
Barnard possessed a great knowledge of zoology and he collected and studied
rare invertebrates. In his scientific work he was an accurate observer and
meticulous writer. He was in charge of the department of Marine Biology
from 1911 to 1956 and started a new line of research into the South African
Mollusca which gained world-wide recognition.
On his retirement as Director, Barnard was appointed Honorary Keeper of
Fishes and Marine Invertebrates. He attended the Museum every day and worked
steadily on the revision of the Mollusca. Most of his work was published in the
Annals, but some remained incomplete and unpublished when on 21 September 1964
he died suddenly following a cerebral haemorrhage, having served the South
African Museum continuously for just over fifty three years; longer than anyone
else in the Museum's history.
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