Suzanne Leclercq
Suzanne Leclercq brings paleobotany into the modern age. More than just a discipline, it's a whole vision of science that is dusted off through its practices, methods and rigor.
B
orn in Liège on March 28, 1901, Suzanne Leclercq joined the paleontology laboratory in 1923, after studying natural sciences. She became a student assistant to anthropologist Charles Fraipont. Professor Armand Renier soon steered her towards the study of coal balls, fossilized Carboniferous plants trapped in particularly well-preserved collieries. She received her doctorate in 1924, her thesis being published by the Geological Society of Belgium. At the time, she was also head of research and curator of the animal and plant paleontology collections. She obtained several certificates in animal paleontology, geology, physical geography and prehistoric archaeology. A qualified FNRS researcher in 1929, she became the first woman at the University of Liège to obtain the agrégation de l'enseignement supérieur in 1931. In 1933, she became a lecturer, and in 1937 an ordinary professor (also the first woman to obtain this position in Liège).
Although she continued to publish with Professor Fraipont until 1936, it was her work on plant paleontology that attracted international attention. In 1937, she established the plant paleontology laboratory as an autonomous entity, separate from animal paleontology. She led the laboratory for 35 years, taking paleobotany into a new era. It was no longer a question of studying fossils to date the earth's layers. Plants are living organisms, studied through botany. We need to look at plants from the past to understand their nature and evolution. Armand Renier had encouraged her to study numerous Carboniferous specimens, and it was he who encouraged her to study the Devonian. Her international reputation, ability to identify fossils, rigor and critical spirit made her an essential researcher. Numerous specimens were submitted to her by scientists from all over the world. Over the course of her career, she identified numerous plant profiles, including the archetypal fern, the first forest around 380 million years old (although they were not expected until 25 million years later), and one of the oldest known euphyllophytes, the one to which all others can be traced.
Suzanne Leclercq received numerous awards throughout her career. She was also an influential member of the Académie Royale de Belgique (corresponding member in 1965 and member of the science class in 1975), and the only woman to be president of the Belgian Geological Society, from 1953 to 1954.
