H. G. F. (Herbert George Flaxman) Spurrell

Born in 1877, Herbert George Flaxman Spurrell was a British physician, biologist, and author whose work linked science and literature. He studied at Oxford and qualified in medicine, while also building a reputation as a zoologist with a special interest in the wildlife of South America and West Africa.

Spurrell took part in expeditions and scientific collecting, and several species were named from his work. Alongside his medical and scientific career, he published fiction and nonfiction, including imaginative stories as well as books on natural history and human origins.

During the First World War he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He died in Alexandria, Egypt, on November 8, 1918, just days before the Armistice, leaving behind the record of a remarkably energetic life.