Cythna Letty facts for kids
Cythna Lindenberg Letty (born January 1, 1895, in Standerton; died May 3, 1985, in Pretoria) was a famous South African botanical artist. She was known for her beautiful and detailed paintings of plants. Many people consider her one of the most important botanical artists in South Africa. She created many careful paintings and drawings over 40 years while working at the National Herbarium in Pretoria.
Cythna Letty is especially remembered for her book Wild Flowers of the Transvaal, which came out in 1962. When South Africa started using new money, she was asked to design the flower pictures for the 10, 20, and 50 cent coins. Besides painting, she was also a talented poet. She published a book of poems called Children of the Hours when she was in her eighties.
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Early Life and Family
Cythna was the oldest child from her mother Josina Christina Lindenberg's second marriage. She was named after a character in a poem by Percy Shelley. The Letty family had five children. For many years, the six children from Josina's first marriage also lived with them. It was a large and well-organized family. The children were taught to play many musical instruments.
Moving Around as a Child
Cythna's father, Walter Edward Letty, changed jobs often. Because of this, her family moved a lot. Cythna went to 13 different schools! She finished her schooling at Pretoria Girls' High School. When World War I started, her father joined the army and served in France. He stayed there even after the war ended.
Cythna's mother, Josina, supported the family by drawing family trees. Her artistic talent was passed on to some of her children. But only Cythna had a special love for drawing plants.
Her Career as an Artist
Before 1924, Cythna worked as a teacher and a nurse. For two years, she worked as an artist at the Veterinary Division in Onderstepoort, near Pretoria. There, she drew pictures of diseased animal organs. After that, she moved to the Division of Plant Industry. This was where she started working with plants.
Drawing for Flowering Plants of Africa
At the Division of Plant Industry, Cythna began her work on Flowering Plants of Africa. She contributed 730 drawings to this important publication. One example of her work is the drawing of Anemone fanninii.
She left her job in 1938 to marry Oscar William Alric Forssman. After her son was born, she rejoined the Division of Botany in 1945. She continued working there until 1966. In 1970, she received a silver medal from the Royal Horticultural Society. This was for an exhibition of her beautiful flower paintings.
Important Plant Books She Illustrated
Cythna was very interested in the Zantedeschia genus, which includes plants like the Calla Lily. She studied them closely and published her findings in a scientific journal called Bothalia in 1973.
She also illustrated many other important botany books. These included Trees and shrubs in the Kruger National Park (1951) by L. E. W. Codd. She also worked on The Stapelieae (1937) and Grasses and Pastures of South Africa (1955). In 1973, she received an honorary degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Legacy and Recognition
Cythna Letty's ashes were scattered in the Cythna Letty Nature Reserve. This reserve is near the town of Barberton in Mpumalanga. In 1989, a collection of seven prints of her flower paintings was published. These paintings were chosen from journals kept by her mother, Josina Letty.
The Botanical Society of South Africa created the "Cythna Letty Medal" in her honor. This medal is given to people who make important contributions to sharing South African plants. They must do this through published botanical paintings or drawings.
Some plants have even been named after her! These include Crassula lettyae and Aloe lettyae. When you see a scientific plant name followed by Letty, it means Cythna Letty was the one who described or named that plant.
See also
In Spanish: Cythna Lindenberg Letty para niños
