Fanny Passavant

Fanny Juliet Passavant, FLA (16 October 1849 – 27 September 1944), was the first librarian of the University of Leeds, in Leeds, England, having previously been librarian of its predecessor, the Yorkshire College. She was the only woman to hold a position of university librarian when the college gained university status in 1904.

Family Born in 1849, Passavant was a member of a family of Huguenot refugees who settled in Basel and Geneva in the 16th century. Her grandfather was (1751–1827), a pastor of the Reformed Church and childhood friend of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

Career Passavant was appointed as the first librarian (overseen by an academic honorary librarian) of the Yorkshire College in Leeds in 1885 at a salary of 18 shillings per week. The college became the University of Leeds in 1904. At the time, no other university had a female librarian. Passavant joined the Library Association in 1903 becoming a Fellow later based on her experience and position.

Passavant retired in 1919 at age 70. When she retired a new, professional, librarian was appointed. Richard Offor was previously the assistant librarian at University College, London, on a salaryof £350 per year, and his ambition was to 'build a new University Library', as they needed more space for the amount of items they had acquired.

Honours On 30 November 2021 Leeds Civic Trust erected a blue plaque to honour Passavant's memory on the wall of the Great Hall at the University of Leeds where its first library had been located. The university's vice-chancellor, Professor Simone Buitendijk, said at the unveiling: