Vivian Frederick Maynard FitzSimons, born in Pietermaritzburg, was a notable herpetologist in South Africa.
[2] In 1937, together with Anna Amelia Obermeyer, he collected some of the earliest plant specimens from the Eastern Highlands of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).
Later, as director of the Transvaal Museum, he together with Charles Koch[3] helped to establish the Namib Desert Research Institute in Gobabeb[2] Vivian FitzSimons came from a family of naturalists.
His father, Frederick William FitzSimons, and his mother Patricia Henrietta (née Russell), both immigrated to South Africa from Ireland.
Vivian FitzSimons attended the prestigious Grey High School in Port Elizabeth.