Mary Dilys Glynne
Mary Dilys Glynne (1895–1991) was a Welsh plant pathologist and mountaineer who helped improve crop yields and climbed many famous peaks, becoming a pioneering figure in both science and adventure.
She was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, on 19 February 1895 as Mary Dilys Glynne Jones. Her father was a solicitor and her mother was active in promoting girls’ education. She grew up with four siblings, attended Bangor School for Girls and North London Collegiate School, and earned a botany degree from the University College of North Wales in 1917. After dropping the Jones surname, she began her notable career as Mary Dilys Glynne.
Early in her career, Glynne joined Rothamsted Experimental Station, where she became the first plant pathologist and helped establish the Plant Pathology Department. She studied soil-borne fungal diseases such as potato wart (caused by Synchytrium endobioticum), eyespot in wheat, and take-all. She developed methods to identify crop varieties resistant to these diseases, including the Glynne-Lemmerzahl method, and showed that crop rotation could worsen some problems. Her work increased agricultural yields, which was especially important during World War II. She earned an MSc in 1922 and, in 1943, a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree for her work. In 1927 she won the Georgina Sweet fellowship, which funded a year of study in Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand; she also worked at the University of Melbourne and traveled in Africa, returning via the British Association meeting in 1929.
During the 1930s, Glynne focused on cereal diseases, proving that problems like the lodging of wheat near harvest were often due to soil-borne diseases such as take-all and eyespot rather than weather. She identified which cereal strains were less susceptible and advised farmers on crop choices and rotations. In 1935 she discovered Gibellina cerealis, a fungal pathogen believed to have come to the UK with Roman settlers. Her wartime and postwar research continued to influence farming practices, and in 1943 the University of Wales awarded her a DSc.
Beyond her scientific work, Glynne was an avid mountaineer. She climbed many Alpine peaks and was the second person, and the first woman, to climb Mount Spencer in New Zealand. She also tackled peaks such as the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc, La Meije, and the Aiguille du Dru, and she climbed Mount Fuji in 1963. She gave lectures to the Royal Geographic Society about Angkor Wat and Cambodia, and the Cambodian tourist board recognized her contributions.
In recognition of her contributions to biology and agriculture, Glynne was made a fellow of the Institute of Biology and was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1960 Birthday Honours. She retired in 1960 but continued to volunteer at Rothamsted for two more years. In social and scientific circles, she remained a respected pioneer in plant pathology and a noted mountaineer.
Mary Dilys Glynne died on 9 May 1991 in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, at the age of 96, after a period of bronchopneumonia. Her legacy lives on in the methods she developed for identifying disease-resistant crops and in the example she set as a woman who excelled in both science and mountaineering.
This page was last edited on 1 February 2026, at 17:10 (CET).