On this day in 1951, Dr Robert Broom passed away at the age of 84, having made considerable contributions to the history of mankind.
Broom was born on 30 November 1866, at 66 Back Sneddon Street in Paisley, Scotland, the son of John Broom, a designer of calico prints and Paisley shawls, and Agnes Hunter Shearer. In his medical studies at the University of Glasgow, Broom specialised in midwifery, and after graduating in 1895 he travelled to Australia, supporting himself by practising medicine.
He settled in South Africa in 1897, just prior to the second Anglo-Boer War. From 1903 to 1910 he was professor of Zoology and Geology at Victoria College, Stellenbosch (now Stellenbosch University), but was forced out of this position for promoting his belief in evolution.
He established a medical practice in the Karoo region of South Africa, an area rich in Therapsid fossils. Based on his continuing studies of these fossils and mammalian anatomy, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1920.
Following the discovery of the Taung Child, he became interested in the search for human ancestors and commenced work on much more recent fossils from the dolomite caves north-west of Johannesburg, particularly Sterkfontein Cave (now part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site).
As well as describing many mammalian fossils from these caves, he identified several hominid fossils, the most complete of which was an Australopithecine skull, nicknamed Mrs Ples, and a partial skeleton that indicated that Australopithecines walked upright.
Information courtesy of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Broom.
