Vetnuus | August 2024 29 5 years at the University of Pretoria in the BVSc course at Onderstepoort. She was an early female graduate at the Faculty and was the only girl in her class. After graduation in 1962 she worked for 18 years in small animal private practice in Cape Town and in Italy. In 1983, Truuske was appointed Researcher in the section of Veterinary Virology at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute. She was made Acting Head of this Section from 2001 to 2006 and was contracted to continue with her work after official retirement in 2004, until she left to retire in Cape Town in 2010. During her time as a virologist she became highly respected both nationally and internationally for her classical diagnostic skills in isolating and identifying a large number of viruses from different animal species, including crocodiles, ostriches, poultry, horses, rhinos, buffaloes, ruminants, pigs and insects. She identified and described at least one novel serotype of equine encephalosis virus. Truuske was a highly valued team-player in diagnostic work and she helped to solve many disease problems. Her expertise was recognised by her being named the international reference expert by the OIE (now WOAH) on African horse sickness, bluetongue, lumpy skin disease, sheep pox, goat pox and Rift Valley fever. She played a leading role in representing the ARC-OVI in a multi-country EU-funded research initiative after the unexpected outbreak of bluetongue in northern Europe in 2006. She was passionate about conservation and the environment and when the Department of Agriculture decided that a consignment of beautiful tropical birds should be killed because the importer had not complied with measures to prove that they were free of specified diseases, she was able to prove that they were not a virus disease risk and gave evidence to this effect in a subsequent court case, saving the birds from unjustified destruction despite her shyness and reluctance to speak in public. While at OVI, Truuske contributed to many international scientific meetings and co-authored many refereed scientific articles. She did not marry but found a cherished partner in her fellow virologist Dr Vasco Mendes who sadly died before she retired. Although she was very reserved, she is remembered by her colleagues and friends as a polite, friendly, kind and shy person who was always perfectly and stylishly dressed and ready to help wherever she could. She died in Cape Town on 21 October 2022 after suffering from a stroke. v Sources: FamilySearch.org Linked-In Truuske’s colleagues and friends https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/80208 Gareth Bath July 2024 The first woman to be registered as a Veterinary Surgeon in South Africa Edith Gertrude Knight was the first female to be registered as a Veterinary Surgeon in South Africa and the first female veterinarian to practice in South Africa. She was registered in Durban, Natal [now KZN] on 8 January 1927. In Vol. 1 Issue 1 of the South African Veterinary Medical Association Journal, published in 1934, a reference was found to: Knight E G (Miss) - Qualified MRCVS 1923 - Registered as a Veterinary Surgeon by the Natal Veterinary Board on 8 January 1927. GN 69. The search for more information about this early female veterinarian in South Africa began… FamilySearch.org database gave a first tantalizing glimpse: on the 14th of January 1926 Miss E G Knight, Veterinary Surgeon and 29 years of age, embarked on the Grantully Castle Mail steamship in London and sailed to Durban in Natal. But that was all we could find since we did not even have her full names. Enquiries to the RCVS Knowledge Archive then yielded the following information: Her Obituary (under her married name of Edith Gertrude Taylor), published in “The Veterinary Record” on 22 April 1995: Death on 23 March 1995 of Edith Gertrude Taylor (nee Knight), BVSc, MRCVS, of The Mu, Brick Lane, Albury, Guildford, Surrey. Mrs Taylor qualified from Liverpool in 1923. Extracts from the Obituary: Edith Gertrude Knight was born in Bruton, Somerset on 13 April 1896, the daughter of WA Knight, the Headmaster of a local school. She was a tomboy of note with a passion for horses, becoming skilled both in riding horses and in drawing and painting them. In 1914, rather than continue with academic studies, she decided to take up work on a farm in Buckinghamshire as an agricultural labourer, until her father persuaded her to go to Reading University to study agriculture. After gaining her Agriculture Diploma from Reading University in 1918 she worked with a veterinary surgeon who encouraged her to become a vet even though the RCVS did not admit women at that time. She submitted 3 consecutive applications to the RCVS who were finally obliged to alter their Charter in January 1920 to allow the admission of women. She entered Liverpool University Veterinary School in October 1920 as a second-year student, having been granted exemption of most of the first-year subjects because of her Agricultural Diploma. Although she was not to become the first British woman to be registered as a veterinary surgeon (the first was Aleen Cust), Edith Knight was the first woman to take the British veterinary degree, qualifying with MRCVS on 19 December 1923 and BVSc in December 1925. Using the information about Edith obtained from her obituary, we searched for further information about her in the FamilySearch.org database and found her family. We can assume that one of the reasons for her coming to Natal in 1926 was because one of her elder brothers, Arthur William Knight was living in Durban and was working as a Master Mariner in the port. Edith applied in 1926 to be registered as a Veterinary Surgeon by the Natal Veterinary Board, obtaining registration as a veterinarian in Natal under Act 21 of 1899. The Board registered “Knight (Miss) E.G., M.R.C.V.S. 1923” as a Veterinary Surgeon on 8 January 1927. Her Registration was published in G.N. [Government Notice] 69. She was the first female veterinarian to be registered in South Africa and her Certificate granted her the right to practice and work in Natal. But within 2 years she was back in England where, after struggling to find employment again, she set up her own practice in Dorking. She married Ernest Leonard Taylor on 12 January 1929 in Bath; Ernest had been a fellow BVSc student at Liverpool and had specialised in parasitology. Edith’s practice flourished and she took on a partner, Marjorie Jordan and remained active in the veterinary field. Edith and Ernest Taylor and their 3 sons continued to live in Dorking. This pioneer in the veterinary world and the first woman veterinary surgeon to be registered in South Africa was independent and active until she died on 23 March 1995, 3 weeks before her 99th birthday. References: 1. FamilySearch.org 2. Chapter VI of “Aleen Cust, Veterinary Surgeon” by Connie M Ford (Bristol, 1990) 3. Obituary (under her married name of Edith Gertrude Taylor), published in “The Veterinary Record” on 22 April 199 With grateful thanks to Lorna Cahill Bannister, Archivist at RCVS Knowledge, for setting us on the right track. v Gareth and Anne Bath May 2024 Edith Gertrude Knight 1996 - 1995 Photo extracted from Chapter VI of "Aleen Cust, Veterinary Surgeon" by Connie M Ford (Bristol, 1990) In Memoriam
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