#6903, John Basil BOURSOT

John Basil was 24 studying reptile zoology in New York in 1939 when his visa ran out, but he couldn't get a message back to England because of the outbreak of war so he went to Guatemala. He lived there until 1944 when he moved to El Salvador where he remained for 60 years until he died in 2004. He obtained a job at the zoo in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador and in 1970 he was appointed Curator of Reptiles, a post he held until his death at the age of 89. His father came to live with him in San Salvador in 1960 and died there in 1976 at the age of 98. A quick look at any publication index in the zoology section of a university library shows dozens of papers written by John Basil and he clearly was an expert on Central American reptile life. In the 1997 New Year's Honours John Basil Boursot was awarded an MBE for services to Zoology in El Salvador.