Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons (known as Fitz to his friends and colleagues) was the son of Frederick William FitzSimons*, herpetologist and director of the Port Elizabeth Museum, and his wife Henriette Patricia Russell. He matriculated at Grey High School in Port Elizabeth, where he excelled as a sportsman and athlete. Among others he won the Eastern and Western Province inter-school mile championship in 1917 in a record time that remained unbroken for more than 20 years. He continued his studies at Rhodes University College, Grahamstown, which awarded him the BSc degree in zoology and chemistry in 1921 and an MSc degree in zoology in 1923. While still a student he assisted his father with the compilation of The natural history of South Africa (1921-1923), which provided him with a broad natural history background. In March 1924 he was appointed as a senior assistant in zoology at the Transvaal Museum (now the Ditsong National Museum of Natural History, Pretoria) and subsequently became curator of the Department of lower Vertebrates and Invertebrates. His research dealt mainly with lizards and snakes - what species occurred in southern Africa and how they were distributed - and involved much field work in remote areas, including his participation in the Vernay-Lang Kalahari Expedition for six months in 1930 and expeditions to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South West Africa (now Namibia) in 1937. Frequent companions in the field were Austin Roberts* and Georges van Son. As a result of his field work he was able to add some 20 000 additional herpetological specimens to the Transvaal Museum's collections. He also undertook study tours to museums in the United Kingdom, Western Europe and the United States. These activities enabled him to compile a monumental work on The lizards of South Africa (1943), a thesis for which he was awarded the DSc degree by the University of the Witwatersrand in 1942

Fitzsimons became director of the Transvaal Museum at the beginning of 1947, succeeding C.J. Swierstra*. He held this position until his retirement in 1966 and developed the museum into a leading scientific institution. Among others he played an important role in establishing the Namib Desert Research Association with its headquarters and a field station at Gobabeb, along the Kuiseb river in Namibia. This developed from its small beginnings in 1959 into the impressive Gobabeb Namib Desert Research Institute, an international centre attracting scientists from all over the world. Meanwhile his second major publication, The snakes of southern Africa, with 76 colour plates by the Reverend P.J. Smit*, was published in 1962, followed some years later by his Field guide to the snakes of southern Africa (1970, co-authored by W.D. Haacke). During these years he also wrote some 50 scientific and popular articles containing mainly descriptions and observations of new species of the amphibians and reptiles of southern Africa.

Fitzsimons was recognized as the leading herpetologist of South Africa in his time. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1965. He served as a councilor of the South African Museums Association for many years and as president in 1955. The South African Association for the Advancement of Science awarded him its South Africa Medal in 1966. He was awarded the Senior Captain Scott Memorial Medal of the South African Biological Society in 1967. Rhodes University awarded him an honorary DSc degree in 1968. He served as a member of the (Transvaal) Fauna and Flora Advisory Board, as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for Education, Science and Technology, as a council member of the Zoological Society of Southern Africa, and was an honorary life member of the Herpetological Society of Rhodesia. He was commemorated in the names of a genus of lizards and a genus of beetles, and several dozen species and subspecies.

In 1945 Fitzsimons married Gwendoline Mary Symonds, with whom he had a son and a daughter.

List of sources:

Adler, K. (Editor). Contributions to the history of herpetology. Oxford, Ohio: Society for the study of Amphibians and Reptiles, 1989.

Brain, C.K. Obituary: Dr V.F.M. FitzSimons. Southern African Museums Association Bulletin (SAMAB), 1976, Vol. 12(2/3), pp. 122-123.

Dictionary of South African biography, Vol. 5, 1987.

Dippenaar, N.J. (Editor). Staatsmuseum 100. Pretoria: National Cultural History Museum, 1992.

FamilySearch: Vivian Frederick FitzSimons. https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/LYF2-ZTS/vivian-frederick-maynard-fitzsimons-1901-1975

Lawrence, R.F. V. F. FitzSimons, a biographical appreciation. Scientific Papers of the Namib Desert Research Station, No. 37, 1969.

Meester, W. Scientists remember: Dr V. F. M. FitzSimons. South African Journal of Science, 1981, Vol. 77, p. 294.

Obituary: Dr Vivian FitzSimons. South African Journal of Science, 1975, Vol. 71, p. 288.

South Africa Medal and Grant 1965/66. South African Journal of Science, 1966, Vol. 62, pp. 163-164.

Vivian F. M. FitzSimons. South African Journal of Science, 1967, Vol. 63, pp. 68-69.

Compiled by: C. Plug

Last updated: 2024-05-07 09:19:20