Vincent Serventy

Who was Vincent Serventy?

Vincent Noel Serventy AM was a noted Australian author, ornithologist and conservationist.

Born in Armadale, Western Australia, the youngest of eight children of migrant Croatian parents, he graduated from the University of Western Australia in geology and psychology. He was a CSIRO researcher and teacher before beginning a career as a writer, lecturer and film-maker. He joined the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union in 1942 and served as either its Branch Secretary or State Representative for Western Australia 1943-1959. In 1946 he became a life member of the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia and was for many years its President.

In 1956 he bought a movie camera and began making documentary films which later led to Australia's first television environment program, Nature Walkabout.

In 1974 he was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia.

Vincent Serventy was a younger brother of the eminent Australian ornithologist Dom Serventy.

Serventy wrote numerous articles on natural history and conservation. Some of his books are:

The Archipelago of the Recherche. Part 2: Birds