Dr. Felicitas Svejda (1920-2016)
Defying all odds, Dr. Felicitas Svejda made the impossible possible.
By applying single-minded intensity to scientific experimentation, she created 25 breeds of roses that thrive in areas that experience average winter temperatures of -30 to -50 degrees. Her hearty and beautiful roses, each named after explorers of northern Canada, bloom throughout summer, resist disease and insects, and grow fuller each year.
”I greatly enjoyed my work with roses, and I am very happy that people around the globe enjoy cultivating and looking at the Explorers” — Dr. Felicitas Svejda
Originally from Vienna where she earned her PhD in Agricultural Science, Dr. Svejda migrated to Ottawa in 1960. Working for 25 years with the Federal Department of Agriculture’s Central Experimental Farm, she led the rose breeding program.
Remarkably, she began knowing nothing about roses. Tapping the knowledge of experts while thinking scientifically and creatively, she became a global expert on hybridization – breeding different varieties of plants together to create new stronger breeds. Today, Dr. Svejda’s Explorer roses are treasured around the world.
In 2000, Dr. Svejda was deeply touched by receiving an honorary degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa from York University, whose crest features the White Rose of York, akin to her Henry Hudson hybrid rose. In 2007, she graciously returned to York to consult on Glendon’s Bruce Bryden Rose Garden. Today, her roses are featured there, and in the Harry Arthurs Common at York’s Keele campus.
Shortly after her passing in 2016, York learned Dr. Svejda had left an undesignated $300,000 gift to York University in her Will. To honour her, part of her bequest will support entrance bursaries in her name for Glendon’s Science students studying biology. The balance is helping us to restore and repair Glendon’s rose garden.
Dr. Svejda’s remarkable impact and generosity will live on, through her Canadian Explorer roses and her support of students, sparking the passion and curiosity of budding biologists.
Originally published in the April 2019 edition of York University Legacies Newsletter
