Biography

Dental surgeon from Harare, Zimbabwe trained at Natal University (1951) and Witwatersrand University (1952-1957), where he gained the degree of B.D.S. He worked as a dental surgeon for the Matabeleland and Rhodesian Dental Association (1958-1961) and later in private practice in Zambia (1962-1975), including acting as dentist for the Cabinet of President Kaunda. He moved to Oranjemund, Namibia (1976) when he was appointed Senior Dental Officer for the Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa and posted to the Diamond Division.

He retired from dentistry in 1983 to pursue his lifelong interest in botany. An enthusiast of Orchidaceae, he made both orchid and general collections in Zambia and Malawi, and through his dentistry work, had access to many areas otherwise inaccessible to other collectors. He married fellow Witwatersrand University graduate, Françoise Clerc and they frequently collected plants together.

Graham Williamson published Orchids of South Central Africa (1977) and Richtersveld, The Enchanted Wilderness (2000) plus some 50 papers and contributions to multi-authored books, mostly accounts of Orchidaceae. For his contributions to Botany he was awarded the Harry Bolus Medal (1981) by the Botanical Society of South Africa and graduated MSc (1986) for a dissertation on the orchid flora of Zambia. Several southern African orchids are named after him including Cardiochilos williamsonii P.J. Cribb, Habenaria williamsonii P.J. Cribb and Stolzia williamsonii P.J.Cribb. Original collections are at a number of herbaria, latterly at BOL where he is a Research Associate. Lichen specimens were also deposited at BM.