# David Catcheside

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British plant geneticist (1907–1994)

David Catcheside FRS Born (1907-05-31)31 May 1907 Hampshire, England Died 1 June 1994(1994-06-01) (aged 87) Harare, Zimbabwe Education Strand School, King's College London Known for Evidence of parasynapsis in Oenothera Scientific career Fields Plant genetics Institutions King's College London, University of Cambridge, University of Adelaide, University of Birmingham, Australian National University

**David Guthrie Catcheside** [FRS](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society) (31 May 1907 – 1 June 1994) was a British plant geneticist.

## Life

He was educated at [Strand School](/source/Strand_School) and [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London) (BSc).[1] He was a Lecturer in Botany at [King's College London](/source/King's_College_London) from 1933 to 1936, and at the [University of Cambridge](/source/University_of_Cambridge) from 1937 to 1950. He was made a [Fellow of the Royal Society](/source/Fellow_of_the_Royal_Society) in 1951. He was also a [Fellow of King's College London](/source/King's_College_London#Fellowship_of_King's_College) and a Fellow of [Trinity College, Cambridge](/source/Trinity_College%2C_Cambridge).[1] He was Professor of Genetics at the [University of Adelaide](/source/University_of_Adelaide) from 1952 to 1955, Professor of Microbiology at the [University of Birmingham](/source/University_of_Birmingham) from 1956 to 1964, and Professor of Genetics at the [Australian National University](/source/Australian_National_University) from 1964 to 1972.[2] He attempted to do research in what was then [Rhodesia](/source/Rhodesia) but was deported by the [Ian Smith](/source/Ian_Smith) regime for supporting political rights for the indigenous black population. After independence, the new government of [Zimbabwe](/source/Zimbabwe) invited him to return to the country and pursue his research in 1980. He moved to Zimbabwe in October of 1980, and began researching plant genetics in the region of [Mashonaland](/source/Mashonaland).[3] He lived in Zimbabwe until his death of natural causes at his home in Harare in 1994.[4]

## Studies

In 1931, David Catcheside proposed the idea that there is evidence of [parasynapsis](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Parasynapsis&action=edit&redlink=1) within *[Oenothera](/source/Oenothera)* plants, based on their chromosomal arrangement.[5]

## Recognition

He was elected an International Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 1974.[6] The D.G. Catcheside Prize, awarded by the [Genetics Society of Australia](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Genetics_Society_of_Australia&action=edit&redlink=1) to the top doctoral student in the field of genetics, was named for him.[7]

## Bibliography

D. G. Catcheside MA, DSc, FAA, FRS (1980). *Mosses of South Australia*. Handbooks of the Flora and Fauna of South Australia. D. J. Woolman, Government Printer, South Australia.{{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list))

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-AAS_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-AAS_1-1) ["David Guthrie Catcheside 1907-1994"](http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/aasmemoirs/catcheside.htm). *[Australian Academy of Science](/source/Australian_Academy_of_Science)*. Retrieved 15 March 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ‘CATCHESIDE, David Guthrie’, Who Was Who, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 1920–2016

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** The Last Days of White Rhodesia by Denis Cecil Hills Chatto & Windus, 1981

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Flora Zambesiaca: Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana : [Flora Terrarum Zambesii Aquis Conjunctarum].

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Catcheside, D. G. (1 January 1931). ["Critical Evidence of Parasynapsis in Oenothera"](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.1931.0075). *Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Containing Papers of a Biological Character*. **109** (761): 165–184. [Bibcode](/source/Bibcode_(identifier)):[1931RSPSB.109..165C](https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1931RSPSB.109..165C). [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1098/rspb.1931.0075](https://doi.org/10.1098%2Frspb.1931.0075). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [81678](https://www.jstor.org/stable/81678).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["NAS member page for David Catcheside"](https://www.nasonline.org/directory-entry/d-g-catcheside-dhwumb/). *NAS Member Directory*. Retrieved 15 February 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Genetics Society of Australia /Awards"](http://www.genetics.org.au/awards/). Retrieved 25 January 2018.

v t e Fellows of the Royal Society elected in 1951 Fellows Carlyle Smith Beals John Boyd David Catcheside Arthur Herbert Cook Sydney John Folley Herbert Fröhlich Geoffrey Gee Hans Heilbronn Gerhard Herzberg Joseph Hutchinson Raymond Ing David Lack Thaddeus Mann Kurt Mendelssohn Albert Neuberger Leonard Bessemer Pfeil James Arthur Prescott Maurice Pryce William John Pugh John Ashworth Ratcliffe Thomas Alan Stephenson William Homan Thorpe Petrus Johann du Toit Alan Turing Alfred Ubbelohde Statute 12 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Foreign Herbert McLean Evans Karl Lashley Carl Størmer Ralph Walter Graystone Wyckoff

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States Netherlands Israel Academics CiNii International Plant Names Index People Trove Australia Other IdRef Te Papa (New Zealand) Yale LUX

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