Edred John Henry Corner
| E. J. H. Corner | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 12, 1906 London |
| Died | September 14, 1996 (aged 90) |
| Citizenship | United Kingdom |
| Nationality | United Kingdom |
| Fields | Mycology |
| Institutions | Singapore Botanic Gardens, UNESCO, University of Cambridge |
| Education | Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge |
| Notable students | David Mabberley |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Corner |
| Spouse | Sheila Kavanagh (divorcee), Helga Dinesen |
| Children | John Kavanagh (son), Stephanie Christine Corner (daughter), Dorothy Lindsay Helga Corner (daughter) |
Edred John Henry Corner FRS (12 January 1906 – 14 September 1996) was a botanist and a mycologist who occupied the posts of assistant director at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (1926–1946) and Professor of Tropical Botany at the University of Cambridge (1965–1973). Corner was a Fellow of Sidney Sussex College from 1959.
Corner was born in London in 1906. He was the son of Edred Moss Corner, a surgeon and surgical author, and Henrietta Corner. At the age of five he developed a stammer; even with elocution lessons, the stammer persisted. From the age of six to nine, he attended Arnold House, a day school in London, where he studied Greek and Latin. From ten to 13, he went to boarding school in Hertfordshire where he focused on the classics and math. Here, his athletic prowess dominated, but a bout of polio temporarily crippled his abilities. He attended Rugby school during his high school years where he studied the classics, but soon grew bored and switched to science. He gave up playing sports to take botanical excursions where his fascination with mushrooms began. His father joined the British Mycological Society and took his 14-year-old son on one of the forays where Corner had the chance to rub shoulders with pre-eminent mycologists of the time such as Carleton Ray and AHR Buller.
In 1923 he went to Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. He continued studying science and realized how much there was yet to learn. This realization was lifelong and drove him in the relentless pursuit of knowledge until the day when he could no longer see. At Sidney Sussex College, Corner met and became the disciple of Arthur Harry Church. He initially focused his research on microfungi and the association between fungi and bryophytes.
Because of his stammer, Corner believed he could never hold a teaching position; this led him to enroll in the Colonial Service and he took a position as a mycologist at the Botanical Gardens in Singapore. He was appointed Assistant Director in 1929 and remained in this position until 1946.
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