John Braithwaite Robertson, inorganic chemist, has been described as "a dour Scot and orthodox chemist" (Murray, 1982, p. 153). He graduated as Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Master of Arts (MA) at the University of Edinburgh and was an Associate of the Institute of Chemistry (AIC). By 1919 he was living in South Africa for in that year he became a member of the South African Chemical Institute. He served on the council of the Institute from 1921 for many years, as secretary during 1922-1923, vice-president for 1923-1924 and 1933-1934, and as president for 1934-1935. Meanwhile in 1925 he had obtained a PhD degree at the University of Edinburgh with a thesis on the reciprocal salt-pair sodium bichromate and potassium bichromate.

His best known publication was The chemistry of coal (London, 1919, 96 pp.) During the nineteen-twenties and -thirties he lectured on inorganic chemistry at the University of the Witwatersrand and also published regularly. His papers in local journals included "The nature of organic matters extractable from coal by pyridine" (South African Journal of Chemistry, 1924), "The volatilisation and separation of the platinum metals by means of phosgene" (South African Journal of Chemistry, 1929), "Education in chemistry" (South African Journal of Science, 1934) and "Some chemical observations on silicosis" (with F. W. Simson and A. S. Strachan; South African Journal of Medical Sciences, 1937). By 1926 he was a senior lecturer in inorganic chemistry and when the chemistry department became the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 1934, headed by Professor Henry Stephen, he continued in that position.

Robertson married Janet Kennedy Gartshore in Glasgow and they had a son.

List of sources:

Google scholar. http://scholar.google.co.za/ , publications by J. B. Robertson.

Letcher, T. M. A brief history of the chemistry department of the University of the Witwatersrand. Chemsa, November 1976, Vol. 2, pp. 192-195.

Murray, B. K. Wits, the early years: A history of the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and its precursors, 1896-1939. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1982.

National Archives, Pretoria, TAB. Source MHG, Volume 0, Reference 2246/47. Death Notice, John Braithwaite Robertson.

South African bibliography to the year 1925. London: Mansell, 1979.

South African Chemical Institute. Proceedings and list of members, 1921-1922 and 1933-1934.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2025-10-15 11:34:17