The Fishy Smiths

by Mike Bruton

  2According to Rénee and Johan Muller, Henriette Pienaar, JLB’s first wife, had the same habit; she naively talked to complete strangers on the London Underground when she visited the Mullers in London. JLB appeared to choose wives with personalities opposite to his own!

  CHAPTER 29

  Pride and joy

  The Smiths’ amazing legacy

  THE INDIVIDUAL legacies left by JLB and Margaret Smith were impressive in themselves. But, as with other great partnerships, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts: together, they achieved what neither would have succeeded in doing on their own. While their sights were set on the same goal, and many of their contributions supported this shared ambition, their contrasting styles set their legacies apart.

  Margaret’s role changed during the course of her life. Initially she acted as the faithful factotum, doing whatever JLB Smith asked of her, and more, always in support of the legacy he was building. When he needed an artist, she developed expert skills in illustrating fishes; when he needed a personal assistant, she was close at hand, as she was for all the roles that she played, albeit as an equal partner in their joint endeavours. When JLB died, she took over the reins, bullied the university and the CSIR into establishing an Ichthyology Institute in his name, developed the Institute into a world-class facility, and built on his legacy by co-editing updated editions of the Sea Fishes book with Phil Heemstra.

  Margaret had a positive impact on virtually everyone she met, except perhaps some of the austere professors on the Rhodes University Senate and Faculty of Science who objected to her knitting during meetings. (She argued that she was quite capable of multi-tasking and that the Red Cross welcomed her jerseys.) She is warmly remembered, both as a friend and a revered mentor – a colleague who supported the trajectories of her peers and nurtured emerging talents, as attested to by many scientists in the field today.

  Rudy van der Elst (pers. comm., 2016) remembers that Margaret was ‘A fiercely loyal and committed person, fair and warm, quite transparent in her dealings, which made her endearing’. But under her cordial exterior there lay a fiercely competitive spirit. At a national anglers’ meeting in Johannesburg in 1981 Rudy presented her with a copy of his newly published book, A Guide to the Common Sea Fishes of Southern Africa (Van der Elst, 1981), which exactly met the needs of the angling community. ‘She was a bit anguished at first being concerned that I might have clashed with her own work – she soon “adopted” me as a real friend and supported me greatly.’

  Lynnath Beckley (pers. comm., 2016) remembers sending Margaret strange fishes that she had collected along the Eastern Cape coast while she was still at school.

  ‘She was a fantastic mentor to me. She was always very helpful and kind and gave me lots of encouragement to study fishes. When I was doing my PhD comparing juvenile fishes in various Eastern Cape coastal habitats, I used to drive up to Grahamstown with samples of small fishes which she used to help me identify. Eventually, one day, out of exasperation with some particularly difficult small specimens, she said, “My girl, these fish are just too small for me to identify – you will have to become a larval fish expert”.’1

  Glenn Merron (pers. comm., 2017), who joined the staff of the Institute from the University of Michigan in 1983 to carry out research on wetland fishes, remembers her as ‘one heck of a dynamo! So gracious when I first came over to G’town and RU. Always a very warm memory of her. I didn’t deal with her academically, but [she] was a pillar of support for the Oko [Okavango] work.’

  Margaret’s generosity knew no bounds and played a little-appreciated role in establishing ichthyology in Grahamstown. Wouter Holleman worked for her in a temporary capacity soon after the move into the new building and one of his responsibilities was to purchase equipment for the new laboratories. Years later he learned that she had paid for all of this equipment from her own pocket (W Holleman, pers. comm., 2017). Holleman also commented that she was ‘a lot smarter an ichthyologist than she was given credit for’.

  At one of her first SAMA conferences, budding ichthyologist-entomologist-pathologist Mary-Louise Penrith was very obviously nervous during a presentation and Margaret ‘cornered me afterwards and advised me to take singing lessons as it helped with nervousness and voice projection! I didn’t get round to that but I thought it kind, and it probably was very good advice. Fortunately I got over the nervousness with practice’ (M-L Penrith, pers. comm., 2017).

  Allan Heydorn (pers. comm., 2017) commented:

  ‘In contrast to her husband, who at times seemed introverted and who did not waste words unnecessarily, Margaret was outgoing and always bubbled with enthusiasm. She was a knowledgeable ichthyologist and fiercely loyal to her husband as whose assistant and research partner she had worked for many years. The best expression of her loyalty to JLB Smith was her willingness to take over the Directorship of the JLB Smith Institute after his death. She flung herself into this task with the energy which was typical of her and she represented the institute at many scientific meetings and conferences. This contact promoted good collaboration with other research organisations including, inter alia, ORI and SAAMBR.’

  Colin Buxton (pers. comm., 2017), who was on the staff of the Department of Ichthyology & Fisheries Science at Rhodes from 1987 to 1995, remembers her as a ‘kind, generous and interesting person, always keen to share a story. She had a special love of sparids and loved the fact that I had chosen a career studying sparids.’

  Paul Skelton (pers. comm., 2017) opined, ‘Strong character, decisive and direct. She was empathetic and very supportive if she believed in you or your cause. Caring and very determined in her mission and tasks.’

  Having fought, against the odds, to set up the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthy-ology in Grahamstown, Margaret Smith crowned that achievement by serving as Director of the Institute from 1968 until 1982, when she retired, aged 65 years. She had initiated, nurtured and overseen the growth of a thriving and esteemed Institute, as well as a flourishing teaching department.

  ICHTHOS logo, designed by Liz Tarr.

  Senior research staff of the then JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology in the early 1980s: Back: Robin Stobbs. Top row, from left: Mike Bruton, Phil Heemstra, Peter Jackson, Glenn Merron. Middle row: Alan Whitfield, Paul Skelton, Tony Ribbink. Bottom row: Len Compagno, Eric Anderson, Ofer Gon.

  On her retirement, she was made a Professor Emeritus by Rhodes University. Generous gifts, donations and congratulations poured in from around the world. A ‘Margaret M. Smith Bursary in Ichthyology’ was established in recognition of her contributions to African ichthyology, with Glenn Merron being the first recipient. When ICHTHOS, the Society of Friends of the JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology, was founded in September 1982, Margaret was elected Life President, a role that she fulfilled with aplomb.

  In 14 short years she had engineered the transition of the Institute from a classical taxonomical research unit into an institute integrally involved in national and international research programmes on fish biology, systematics, zoogeography, morphology, ecology, behaviour, life-history styles, fisheries management, aquaculture and conservation.

  Through her achievements as a scientist, administrator and fish artist, she joined an elite group of woman ichthyologists that includes Edith Grace White (1890–1975), Margaret Hamilton Storey (1900–1960), Ethelwynn Trewavas (1900–1993), Laura Clark Hubbs (1893–1988, who formed a formidable ichthyology team with her husband, Carl), Grace Evelyn Pickford (1902–1986), Marie Poland Fish (1902–1989), Frances Vorhees Hubbs Miller (1919–1987, the eldest child of Laura and Carl Hubbs), Rosemary Lowe-McConnell (1921–2014) (Balon et al., 1994), and many others.

  Margaret Smith receiving The Order for Meritorious Service Class 1: Gold from the then State President, PW Botha, at Tuynhuis on 25th February 1986.

  On 25th February 1986 Margaret received The Order for Meritorious Service Class 1: Gold from the State President, PW Botha, at Tuynhuis in Cape Town ‘for rendering exceptionally meritorious serv
ice in the general public interest’. Two months later, on 11th April 1986, she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Rhodes University. She was wheelchair-bound at this stage and this author had the honour of wheeling her across the stage to be capped by the Vice-Chancellor, Derek Henderson, and robed by the Registrar, Keith Hunt, who broke all protocol by giving Margaret a big hug to raucous applause from the audience! It was a joyous occasion that contrasted with the dignified solemnity of university graduation ceremonies at that time. Margaret Smith House, a woman’s residence at Rhodes University, was named after her; it is situated on a hill overlooking the university close to Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer Hall. The plaque at the entrance reads:

  ‘An inspiring woman, a role model and world renowned ichthyologist. Her human touch made the interaction with students her special strength. She was loved by all.’

  JLB Smith was a great intellect who strode the South African and international stage with authority, and commanded considerable respect. He was also a brilliant and much-loved teacher who inspired several generations of students and made a lasting impact on chemistry and ichthyology in Africa and beyond. Despite his frail body, he was a man of incredible energy, drive and enthusiasm who lived several lifetimes in one. He was intolerant of laziness and inefficiency and set very high standards for himself and his colleagues.

  He refused many of the honours and awards that he was offered later in life, saying, ‘Give it to a younger man who is still climbing and would really appreciate it – it would be wasted on me.’ In spite of this, he was honoured in many ways. In addition to being elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa in 1935 and receiving the Marloth Medal in 1945, he was awarded the Senior Captain Scott Medal for Biology by the South African Biological Society in 1949 and also elected a Corresponding Foreign Member of the Zoological Society of London.

  In 1949, despite never having attended any of their annual conferences, he was elected an Honorary Foreign Member of the American Society of Ichthyologists & Herpetologists, which is limited to 24 members! The latter honour brought considerable material reward to the Ichthyology Institute as it included a free subscription to their prestigious journal, Copeia. With his newfound status, Smith was sent not only rare books on fishes but also back copies of Copeia, with the result that, for many years, the Institute in Grahamstown had the only full set of Copeia in Africa. He was also awarded the Coronation Medal in 1953 and, the same year, became a Commandeur de l’Etoile de la Grande Comore. He was also, like Margaret, Patron, President or Honorary Life Member of numerous angling unions, clubs and associations.

  In 1993 the ‘JLB Smith Memorial Lecture’, which has since been renamed the ‘Smith Memorial Lecture’2, was introduced to commemorate the contributions of both Smiths. Len Compagno delivered the first lecture, an engrossing and masterful exposé on the feeding and breeding strategies of sharks, rays and chimaeras worldwide, from cookie cutters to megamouths, egg-layers to uterine carnivores.3

  Len Compagno and his beloved sharks.

  In January 2000 JLB Smith was posthumously inducted into the International Game Fish Association’s (IGFA) ‘Fishing Hall of Fame’ in recognition of his extensive work in ichthyology and his love of angling. In his presidential address at this event Michael Leech said, ‘All the men being inducted this year had a true dedication to conservation, as well as the sport of fishing, which is one of the major missions of the IGFA’ (Pullen, 2000). Smith was the first South African to be honoured in this way, joining international worthies such as Izaak Walton, Dame Juliana Berners, Ernest Hemingway, Zane Grey and Lord Baden-Powell.

  For better or for worse, publications are the currency that is used to measure a scientist’s worth. JLB’s publication rate in chemistry was moderate but, as Mike Davies-Coleman (pers. comm., 2017) has pointed out:

  ‘JLB Smith was not an outstanding organic chemist if measured in today’s terms as far as research outputs go. It was a different era, it was not easy to solve complex organic molecular structures especially in Africa and outputs were mediocre by today’s standards. JLB Smith’s influence was not his research outputs but his ability to inspire the next generation of young organic chemists who went on to lead South African natural products chemistry into the golden age of organic chemistry when modern analytical techniques eg NMR [nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy] became ubiquitous. Doug [Doug Rivett] went on to Cambridge and Princeton from Rhodes and was the only South African organic chemist I know to have published continuously over seven decades (his first paper with JLB in 1942 and his last with me in 2005).’

  But JLB’s publication rate in ichthyology was phenomenal (MM Smith, 1969; Pote, 1996). Besides the massive Sea Fishes book, as well as Fishes of the Seychelles and Fishes of the Tsitsikama Coastal National Park, which he co-authored with Margaret, he authored 33 of the 65 Ichthyological Bulletins published by Rhodes University between 1956 and 1968, in his 59th to 71st years, as well as numerous other scientific papers. His most productive year was 1957 when, aged 60, he published 18 papers (Pote, 1996). Although most of his publications were on marine fish taxonomy and distribution, he also wrote on fish larvae, growth, the use of formaldehyde as a fish preservative, freshwater fishes (including gobies, barbs and eels), stonefish poisoning, sexual dimorphism, self-inflation by gobies, pugnacity of marlins, swordfish and whale shark behaviour, shark attacks, and the organisation of a library for research in systematics.

  By the end of his life JLB Smith had published nine scientific books (three in chemistry and six in ichthyology), 14 scientific papers in chemistry and 213 scientific papers in ichthyology. His books included the monumental The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa4, first published in 1949 and republished in various editions in 1950, 1953, 1961, 1965, 1970 and 1977.

  In the first edition of The Sea Fishes of Southern Africa (1949) JLB Smith authored every fish family account as well as all the species accounts – an extraordinary achievement. In subsequent multi-authored editions of the book published after his death, such as the 1986 edition (Smith & Heemstra, 1986), he co-authored the Pomatomidae (elf), Sparidae (seabreams) and Mugilidae (mullets). Margaret continued to edit further editions of the Sea Fishes book with Phil Heemstra and was a prolific author in her own right of fish family accounts, authoring or co-authoring 43 of these, including those for the sixgill stingrays, coelacanth, ladyfishes, tarpons, coffinfishes, sauries, tadpole fishes, pineapple fishes, seamoths, flagtails, dottybacks, podges, rubberlips, fusiliers, emperors, galjoens, soapies, pomfrets, klipfishes, boxfishes and blaasops. In the 1986 edition of Sea Fishes Phil Heemstra authored or co-authored a very substantial 74 fish family accounts, including those for the cowsharks, flyingfishes, opahs, oarfishes, slimeheads, dories, gurnards, rockcods, bigeyes, scatties, moonies, kobs, butterflyfishes, remoras, stargazers, duckbills, soles and ocean sunfishes, six of them with Margaret.

  The latest editions of Smiths’ Sea Fishes were published by Southern Book Publishers (1995) and Struik (2003). In 1986 Springer-Verlag in Germany published Smiths’ Sea Fishes in soft cover (for sale outside of southern Africa only) and also produced an e-book edition in December 2012. In 1989 Margaret Smith (posthumously) and Heemstra were joint winners of the Bill Venter Book Award for the revised edition of Smiths’ Sea Fishes. This annual award is made to the most outstanding publication by a full-time member of staff of a South African university.

  It is interesting to note that, from 1931 to 1947, 21 of JLB Smith’s 32 scientific papers (66%) were published in the Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa. Smith was a staunch supporter of the Royal Society and chose to publish his seminal papers on the first and second coelacanths in the Society’s publications. He unquestionably lived up to the Society’s motto, Nullius in verba, ‘take nobody’s word for it’, an expression of the determination of its fellows and members to withstand the domination of authority and to verify all statements by an appeal to facts. Five scientific papers and two books that he wrote in 1967 were
published posthumously in 1968 and 1970. Considering that he only became a full-time ichthyologist at the age of 49 years, his productivity was very high.

  JLB Smith also wrote a prodigious number of popular and semi-scientific articles in angling, diving and natural history magazines and newspapers: 445 in total, ‘for the layman whom he said supported his work indirectly through taxation and so should be told something of the excitement of scientific research’ (MM Smith, 1969). He also shared his knowledge of fishes with the public through radio broadcasts in English, Afrikaans and Portuguese, hundreds of informal articles in newspapers and magazines, and popular books in English and Afrikaans (Smith 1956, 1968a and b).

  Not least of JLB’s diverse accomplishments was his role as a mentor, mainly in chemistry but also in ichthyology, for the next generation of scientists. Bob Crass, who later became a leading freshwater ichthyologist in KwaZulu-Natal, remembers:

  ‘Doc, who gave me the best course of lectures and the best practical instruction of any of those who taught me at Rhodes. Doc, who would always help a student seeking information, no matter how busy he might be. Doc, the indefatigable worker who never lost his dry, down-to-earth sense of humour … but his refusal to become a burden to others was typical of the man’ (SAIAB archives).