Isaac Henry Burkill

Who was Isaac Henry Burkill?

Isaac Henry Burkill was an English botanist.

Educated at Repton School and Caius College, Cambridge, Burkill served as Assistant in the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1897 to 1899. In 1912 he succeeded H. N. Ridley as Director of the Botanic Gardens, Singapore. In 1935 he published his dictionary of economic products of Malaya, ten years after his retirement. This dictionary was reprinted in 1966, 1993 and 2002.

Burkill received the Linnean Medal in 1952.

Burkill's son, Humphrey Morrison Burkill, was also a distinguished botanist and also served as Director of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.