Obituary

Mary White was born in South Africa to an entomologist father and a botanist mother, but spent most of her early years in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where her father was First Director of Agriculture and Professor of Entomology. She attended the University of Cape Town, where she studied botany and zoology. When looking for a subject for her Masters' thesis, Alexander du Toit recommended a paleobotanical subject, as there was no paleobotanist in Africa but it had Gondwanan fossil flora awaiting study. This eventually led to Mary's lifetime interest in Gondwana and the evolution of its biota.