Alice Blanche Balfour

Alice Blanche Balfour FRES (20 October 1850 – 12 June 1936) was a Scottish entomologist, naturalist, scientific illustrator and one of the earliest pioneers in the science of genetics.

[1] Her extensive collection of Scottish moths is now in the care of National Museums Scotland.

Her brother Francis Maitland Balfour was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society at the age of 27 for his work on embryology.

She had a lengthy correspondence with James Cossar Ewart Professor of Zoology at University of Edinburgh who himself had a professional interest in the development of the horse.

[2] Alice's contributions to entomology were celebrated during Women's History month 2023, in an article in The Scotsman magazine.