Born in Montreal, Quebec, Shirley Andreae (née Inns) received her M.Sc. in 1946 from McGill University. Five years later, she and her husband Dr. Wolfgang Andreae moved to London, Ontario where both would go on to build connections with Western University – he as an honorary lecturer in the Botany Department in the 1950s and 1960s, and she as a Botany graduate student in the Department of Plant Sciences in the 1970s.

Shirley Andreae participated in of many aspects of London’s cultural world. In addition to science, she was also involved in history, theatre and  music. Andreae is known for her work in London’s visual art community, where in the 1950s, she played a role in the operation of the London Public Library and Art Museum (which would later become Museum London).

From 1959 to 1961 Shirley Andreae held the position of president of the Western Art League, during which time she and London artists Margot Ariss and Daisy Bailey recognized the need for and helped bring about the formation of a local art centre, the London Artists’ Workshop (1960-1962).

Biography by Samantha Meritt and Luvneet K. Rana

SOURCES

“In Memorium” (Dr.  W.A.  Andreae). University of Western Ontario News,
October 26, 1967.
https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/westernnews/article/view/11396/9069.

“Shirley Andreae.” The Globe and Mail, February 29, 2000 and March 1, 2000.
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/theglobeandmail/obituary.aspx?n=shirley-andreae&pid=189711400.

Poole, Nancy Geddes. The Art of London, 1830-1980. London, Ontario: Blackpool Press, 1984.

Richard, Claude. “A Guide to Graduate Students and Graduate Studies in Botany in Canada.” The Canadian Botanical Association Bulletin 7, no.2 (April 1974).
https://www.cba-abc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/vol_7_2.pdf.

University of Western Ontario Academic Calendars, 1957-58 to 1967-68.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/do/search/advanced/?q=title%3A(%20Academic%20Calendar%20)&start=0&start_date=01%2F01%2F1957&end_date=01%2F01%2F1967&context=8261391&sort=date_desc&facet=.