Person Rothschild; Dame; Miriam Louisa (1908 - 2005); naturalist, entomologist, and conservationist Rothschild Miriam Louisa Dame naturalist, entomologist, and conservationist 1908 - 2005 British Female Ashton Wold, Ashton, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom 05 August 1908 19080805 Ashton Wold, Ashton, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, England, United Kingdom 20 January 2005 20050120 Funeral: Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St John's Wood, London, England, United Kingdom (7 April 2005)

Zoologist; Writer; Gardener; Farmer; Campaigner; Parasitologist Conservation Zoology Parasitology Entomology Small animals Botany Education: At home; evening class in zoology, Chelsea Polytechnic Career: Studied the mollusc Nucula and its trematode parasites at Marine Biological Station, Plymouth (1930s); editor of 'Novitates Zoologica', Tring Museum journal (1938-1941); worked as a code-breaker at Bletchley Park during WW2; worked on rabbit flea; published 'Fleas, Flukes and Cuckoos' (1952) with Theresa Clay; published 'Catalogue of the Rothschild Collection of Fleas in the British Museum', volumes I to IV (1953-1983); served on Government advisory committee on myxomatosis (1954); consulted by The Prince of Wales and helped to sow wild flower meadow at Highgrove; wrote 'The Butterfly Gardener' (1983) with Clive Farrell; gave the Oxford University Romanes Lecture, "Animals and Man" (1985); created Schizophrenia Research Trust (1962); Trustee, Natural History Museum (1967-1975); member of Entomological Club; opened National Dragonfly Museum in old mill on her Ashton Wold estate (1996); died from heart failure at home and birthplace. Memberships: Royal Entomological Society (President 1993–1994) Awards/Medals: Royal Horticultural Society gold medal 1951 American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1973 A J Waley Medal and Victoria Medal of Honour Linnean Society Bloomer Award Lynn Society's Floral Medal Royal Entomological Society's Wigglesworth Gold Medal Honours: CBE 1982; DBE 2000 Parents: Nathaniel Charles Rothschild, merchant, banker, and conservationist, younger son of 1st Lord Rothschild and Rozsika von Wertheimstein, third daughter of Colonel Alfred von Wertheimstein, landowner and army officer from Nagyvárad, Austria–Hungary. Siblings: Nathaniel Mayer Victor Rothschild (FRS 1953); Nica de Koenigswarter, musical patron; Liberty Rothschild. Uncle: Lionel Walter Rothschild (FRS 1911) Spouse: (14 August 1943) Captain George Lane MC, marriage dissolved (1957). Children: (Mary) Rozsika (1945–2010); Charlotte (b. 1951); Charles (b. 1948); adopted at birth another daughter, Johanna (b. 1951); adopted Jane and Benjamin, the two children of her friend Gay Fischer, following his death in 1955. Distinguished for her work on Siphonaptera, protective coloration (especially in Lepidoptera) and chemical ecology. Made fundamental and diverse advances in our knowledge of protective coloration and mimicry, in particular on selection for scarcity of numbers, the reversal of cryptic colour-phases in pupae of Pieridae, the significance of size and of early emergence in models and an analysis of the position of warning colours on the bodies and wings of mimetic species. In the area of chemical ecology, she initiated a new field of animal/plant interactions involving toxic substances (collaborating with Reichstein and others on chemical and pharmacological aspects of the work). Leading authority on fleas and the first to figure out the flea's jumping mechanism. In the late 1930s she worked with several organizations dedicated to helping Jewish children escape from Germany and Austria, many of whom were given a safe refuge at Ashton Wold. Strongly supported animal welfare and social causes, such as the decriminalisation of homosexuality. Funding from the Lisbet Rausing Charitable Trust, a Miriam Rothschild chair of conservation biology was endowed at the University of Cambridge in 2006. Fellow 21/03/1985 76 Obituaries: Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 2006 vol 52 pp 315-330, plate, by Helmut F van Emden and Sir John Gurdon Obituaries in Telegraph (24 January 2005); Independent (24 January 2005) Sources: Mariana Cook 'Faces of Science' 2005 Photograph and her account of how she becme a scientist in her own words International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) - Ottawa 1996 ISBN 0-9696035-3-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.2006.0022 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsbm.1999.0030 RCN 11808 RCN 19515 RCN 19528 RCN 11835 RCN 13155 RCN 10736 RCN 15801 RCN 10507 RCN R82902 RCN R82903 RCN 52673 RCN R83744 RCN 10646 RCN 13524 https://pictures.royalsociety.org/results?mi_search_type=adv&mi_adv_search=yes&adv_person_id=AUTH7341 5 Aug 1908 - 20 Jan 2005 The past Fellows entries are under continuous revision. If you have queries or additional information to contribute, please contact Library@royalsociety.org. Content in external sources is not controlled by the Royal Society and historical sources may include content that is now unacceptable. Reviewed on 11/06/2025 as part of the Name Authority Project update. NA193 21/11/2001 Andyg Pmab 17/03/2026 RS_NET\VirginiaM Yes 3de37f71-0d2f-4d30-a1ae-aabb1a229da4