| Code | PX11165 |
| Dates | 1916-1997 |
| Person Name | Napier; Prudence Hero (1916-1997); Primatologist; Museum staff (part-time); |
| Surname | Napier |
| Forenames | Prudence Hero |
| Epithet | Primatologist; Museum staff (part-time); |
| Activity | Museum Staff. Prudence Hero Napier was born in Liverpool in 1916. In 1936 she married primatologist and surgeon John Russell Napier. Prue worked alongside her husband, and together they released ‘A Handbook of the Living Primates’ (1967). In 1969, Prue and John organised a Wenner-Gren conference, and edited and published the conference proceedings, titled ‘Old World Monkeys: Evolution, Systematics and Behaviour’. Prudence also published three children’s books, ‘Monkeys and Apes’ (1970), ‘Chimpanzees’ (1974) and ‘Lemurs, Lorises and Bushbabies’ (1977).
In 1971, Prue became a part-time member of staff in the Zoology Department at the Natural History Museum. During her employment, she published three of the five-volumes of 'Catalog of Primates in the British Museum (Natural History)', including 'Families Callitrichidae and Cebidae' (1976), 'Family Cercopithecidae, Subfamily Cercopithecinae' ( 1981) and 'Family Cercopithecidae, Subfamily Colobinae' (1985).
Prue and John retired to live on the Isle of Mull, in the Inner Hebrides, in 1982, but continued working in retirement. In 1985, they published their last book, ‘The Natural History of the Primates’.
Prue succeeded John as President of Twycross Zoo, after his death in 1987,
Prudence Hero Napier died on 6th June 1997. |