Cythna Letty

Cythna Lindenberg Letty (1 January 1895, in Standerton – 3 May 1985, in Pretoria), was a South African botanical artist and is regarded as a doyenne of South African botanical art by virtue of the quality and quantity of her meticulously executed paintings and pencil sketches, produced over a period of 40 years with the National Herbarium in Pretoria.

When decimal currency was introduced in South Africa, she was asked to design the floral motifs for the 10, 20 and 50 cent coins.

Cythna was the eldest child of her mother Josina Christina Lindenberg's second marriage and was named after the heroine in Percy Shelley's poem "The Revolt of Islam".

With the outbreak of World War I, Walter enlisted and served in France, and remained there after peace was declared.

Her artistic skills were passed on to a number of her children, but only Cythna had a passion for botanical subjects.

Her ashes were scattered in the Cythna Letty Nature Reserve near the small town of Barberton in Mpumalanga.