Thanks to Helmut Knüpffer of IPK Gatersleben, for his comment pointing to two important papers relating to Erna Bennett.
- Erna Bennett: Her Career and Convictions and An Interview with Erna Bennett by IS Cunningham provides an insight into some aspects of her personality and drive. (Diversity 5(2 & 3), 60-63, 1989. As with the Ceres article reprinted by The Ecologist, if you do download and skim through the whole issue, you might, like me, wonder what on Earth we’ve all been doing for the past 40 years.)
- Award of Meyer Memorial Medal to Erna Bennett of FAO, including Presentation by Dr. Ralph W. Phillips, Miss Erna Bennett’s Acceptance, and Statement by Dr. A. H. Boerma. 1971. (J. Heredity 62(5), 277-279. That one’s behind a paywall, although I reckon snagging the photo above constitutes fair use.)
Helmut also wrote: “I just went to the Mansfeld Library. There are 2292 reprints in the “Reprint Collection Erna Bennett” sorted alphabetically by author and then numbered 1-2292.” Good to know.
And a couple of other links. Grain, the NGO, published its own tribute. Grain’s archives contain a piercing essay from Erna on The Summit-to-Summit Merry-go-Round, which should be on the reading list of everyone with an interest in agricultural biodiversity and the context surrounding its conservation and use.