Louise de Kiriline Lawrence


Louise de Kiriline Lawrence was an internationally renowned naturalist, author and nurse. She was the most prolific contributor to the National Audubon Society magazine Audubon.

Early life

Louise de Kiriline Lawrence was born on January 30, 1894, in Sweden.

Career

De Kiriline Lawrence trained as a nurse and was employed by the Danish Red Cross during World War I. She met a Russian officer, Lt. Gleb Kirilin, in Denmark, and married him in 1918. He returned to Russia to fight in the Russian Civil War, and she followed him there. Gleb Kirilin disappeared in Siberia where, unknown to his wife, he was shot. She worked as a nurse in Russia for several years while she searched for him. In 1927 de Kiriline Lawrence emigrated to Canada and continued to work as a nurse. Stationed in rural northern Ontario, she became well known as the nurse to the Dionne quintuplets during the first year of their lives.
She retired from nursing in 1935, and lived in a cabin in Northern Ontario. She met Leonard Lawrence, a carpenter, and married him in 1939. By this time she had begun a new career as an ornithologist and nature writer. She is recognized for her study of the red-eyed vireo, which identified the songbird as capable of producing 22,197 distinct calls in a single day. De Kiriline Lawrence carried out the majority of her scientific work on her property, located outside of North Bay, Ontario.
She was an Elective Member of the American Ornithologists' Union and received an Honorary LL.D. from Laurentian University in 1970.

Works