Edwin John Butler
| Sir Edwin John Butler | |
|---|---|
| Born |
13 August 1874 Kilkee, Co. Clare |
| Died | 4 April 1943 (aged 68) |
| Nationality | Irish |
| Fields | Mycology, Plant pathology |
| Known for | Contributions to mycology and plant pathology |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | E.J.Butler |
Sir Edwin John Butler FRS (13 August 1874 – 4 April 1943) was an Irish mycologist and plant pathologist. He became the Imperial Mycologist in India and later the first director of the Imperial Bureau of Mycology in England. He was knighted in 1939.
E.J. Butler was born in Kilkee, County Clare, Ireland the son of Thomas Butler, a resident magistrate. He initially went to school in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire but returned to Ireland in 1887 due to illness and studied under a tutor. A library in Cahersiveen where his father was transferred helped him develop an interest in a diverse range of topics. In 1890 his health improved and he went to the Christian Brothers School followed by Queen's College, Cork, where in 1898 he took the degrees of M.B.,B.Ch., and B.A.O. Butler also received an MSc in Botany from University College Cork in 1920.
Butler took an initial interest in botany thanks to Marcus Hartog, a Professor of Natural History. Hartog was researching Saprolegnia a genus of fungus-like water moulds and Butler learnt techniques of study which he later applied to the related genus Pythium. He went to Paris, Antibes, Freiburg, and Kew, spending time in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris in the laboratory of mycologist Philippe Édouard Léon Van Tieghem. In 1900, at the recommendation of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he was appointed as the first Cryptogamic Botanist to the Government of India at Calcutta.
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