Dr. Esmé Frances Franklin Hennessy, Professor of Botany and acclaimed botanical illustrator, died May 20, 2023, in Portland Oregon. She was 89.
Born 30 August 1933, Dr. Hennessy grew up in the coastal village of Umzinto, Natal, South Africa, where her father was the district surgeon. Childhood exploration of her rural environs fueled the curiosity of plants and love of beauty that defined her life.
Dr. Hennessy completed her Bachelor’s, Honours, and Master’s degrees in Botany, and her Ph.D. in Taxonomic Botany, at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
In 1956, she married Royal Navy Commander Brian John Hennessy.
In 1961, Dr. Hennessy was invited to serve as a lecturer in Botany at University College, Durban, the first woman to hold that post. Between 1972 and 1993, she was a member of the science faculty at University of Durban-Westville, culminating as Associate Professor of Botany. In 1994, she accepted an honorary post as Associate Professor of Botany, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, where she served until 2006. She remained External Examiner in Plant Taxonomy (Ph. D theses) at the University of Natal until 2010.
Dr. Hennessy is the author and illustrator of many publications, including the books South African Erythrinas (1972); Orchids of Africa – a Select Review (1981), which she wrote and illustrated with Joyce Stewart; and The Slipper Orchids (1989), which she illustrated and co-authored with Tessa Hedge.
Dr. Hennessy’s botanical illustrations were exhibited widely, including a 1977 exhibition at the Hunt Institute for Botanical Art and Illustration at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh; 1989 and 1992 exhibitions at the Royal Horticultural Society in London; and a 2000 exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution. She also enjoyed several rewarding stints for botanical research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London.
Honours Dr. Hennessy received for her botanical illustrations included two Grenfell silver-gilt medals from the Royal Horticultural Society, and the Cythna Letty Medal from the Botanical Society of South Africa. She was elected to fellowship in the Linnean Society of London in 1985; she was a founding member of the Society of Botanical Artists, U.K. (1988) and the South African Association of Botanists (1968).
In 2006, Dr. Hennessy emigrated to the USA. In 2017, she was asked to create original illustrations for two books: Beautiful Corn: America’s Original Grain from Feed to Plate, by Anthony Boutard, and Baja Blooms: The Gardens of Los Colibris Casitas.
Dr. Hennessy is survived by her son.