David ThodayDavid Thoday FRS was a botanist.CareerThoday was Harry Bolus professor of botany, University of Cape Town and later professor at the University College of North Wales 1923–1949. As a botanist, his work is denoted by the author abbreviation Thoday when citing a botanical name.Awards and honoursHe was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1942. His nomination readsPersonal lifeHe married fellow botanist and activist Mary Gladys Sykes in 1910. Their son was the geneticist John Thoday.