Sydney Skaife was born in London, England on 12 December 1889
and grew up in Bath, Somerset. He initially studied Arts at Reading
University, although his real passion was Biology. In 1911 he
received his Teaching Diploma and in 1912 he went to the University
of Leipzig in Germany.
In 1913 he came to Cape Town to teach Biology at Ronderbosch
Boys High School, after which he accepted a post as entomologist at
the Rosebank Research Station in Cape Town. Here he worked on
insects that fed on stored grain which was a particularly urgent
issue at the time, since large quantities of grain were being
stored at the Cape as part of the war effort.
On 29 September 1917 he married Elsie Mary Croft and they had
two children together. Shortly after his marriage, he was
transferred to the Cedara College of Agriculture in Natal where he
worked on bees and wattle bagworm infestation.
In 1920 he received an M.Sc. at the Natal University College and
in 1922 he received a Ph.D from the University of Cape Town for his
research on bean weevils. From 1921 to 1945 he was the Inspector of
Science in the Cape Department of Education.
In 1929 he established the Wild Life Protection and Conservation
Society, now called the Wildlife Society of Southern Africa. In his
capacity as chairman, he helped to establish the Outeniqua Mountain
Zebra Reserve, the Bontebok Park, and the Addo Elephant
Reserve.
In 1939, largely through his efforts, the Cape of Good Hope
Nature Reserve was established. He became President of the
Entomological Society of Southern Africa in 1940, and also served
as Chairman of the newly created Fisheries Development Corporation
from 1945-1951. During the same period he was also a member of the
Board of Governors of the South African Broadcasting
Corporation.
In 1952 he retired to his home in Hout Bay and did extensive
research on the social behaviour of ants, bees and wasps which
resulted in the publication of several books and scientific
publications. At this time he was also awarded the South African
Medal and Grant for scientific research by the South African
Association for the Advancement of Science.
In 1957 he was awarded a D.Sc. by the University of Natal and,
despite being retired, became the President of the Zoological
Society of South Africa in 1960.
He died on 6 November 1976 at his home in Hout Bay.