Biochemical Systematics and Ecology, Vol 15, No. 6, p iii, 1987 Printed in Great Britian Pergamon Journals Ltd

OBITUARY

DR TONY SWAIN

The untimely death of Tony Swain, M.A., D.Sc. in a motoring accident on 25th September has deprived the world of plant biochemistry and phytochemistry of one of its most imaginative and stimulating members. It has also lost a cheerful, good humoured extrovert whose presence could be guaranteed to enliven as well as illuminate any debate.

The first 20 years of his professional career were spent at the Low Temperature Research Station, Cambridge. These were followed by three years as Scientific Adviser in the Cabinet Office and two years in the United States as Visiting Professor at the Universities of Yale and Harvard successively. Returning to England in 1970, he became Director of the A.F.R.C. Laboratory of Biochemical Systematics at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; a post which he held until 1975 when he accepted an invitation to become Chairman of Biology at Boston University. In 1976, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

On his retirement from Boston University in 1986, he returned to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the title of Honorary Research Associate was conferred on him in 1987. At the time of his death, he was actively engaged in organising a research programme involving the Royal Botanic Gardens and the CAB International Mycological Institute.

Tony Swain was primarily concerned with the chemistry of plants and the application of chemistry to the solution of botanical and ecological problems. He was author or co-author of over 150 publications on various aspects of the isolation and identification of natural products, their evolution and ecological significance. He was also editor or co-editor of seven books related to these subjects. It is perhaps as founder and executive editor of the two international journals, Phytochemistry and B/ochemica/Systemat/cs and Eco/ogy that he will be chiefly remembered. These are journals that accept papers containing elements of both chemistry and biology and serve to make readers aware of the exciting developments taking place at the interface of these disciplines. He was also a founder member and the first secretary of the Phytochemical Society of Europe.

A good and stimulating teacher, Tony Swain gave of his time generously to students and, at different periods, held honorary positions in the University of Hull and at Royal Holloway College and King's College in the University of London.

E. A. Bell

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