Fonds AR182 - Marianne Ainley fonds

Marianne (Marika) Ainley (née Gosztonyi) was born on December 4, 1937 in Budapest, Hungary. She started out her adult life as a chemist after receiving her diploma in industrial chemistry from Petrik Lajos Polytechnical College of Chemistry in Budapest in 1956. She immigrated to Sweden in 1956 to escape the unrest accompanying the failed Hungarian Revolution, and then to Montreal, Quebec in 1957. She became a research assistant at Loyola College in the Chemistry department under Dr. Thomas Nogrady during 1966-1969 and 1973-1974, and continued on until 1978. In 1979, while working as research assistant in the History of Science Program at Concordia she completed Cornell University's certificate in ornithology. She graduated with a Master of Science in 1980 and continued her research in ornithology while completing her PhD at McGill University, graduating in 1985. Shortly after completing her PhD, Ainley received a grant to write a biography of zoologist William Rowan. In 1986, she secured multi-year funding (from 1986-1988) as an independent scholar. From 1988-2005 she lectured at the Simone de Beauvoir Institute at Concordia University, Carleton University, the University of Northern British Columbia, the University of Victoria, as well in Australia and New Zealand. During this period, Ainley also wrote and received research grants to write books and prepare exhibitions. On September 26, 2008, Ainley passed away after a battle with cancer.