Laura Longmore, a British South African, graduated from the University of Cape Town in 1948. She was a lecturer in African life and administration and in anthropology at the University of Witwatersrand, and contributed to academic, medical and scientific journals. She undertook expeditions to study flora and fauna, bird life, archaeology and marine environments, and attended conferences on a range of subjects. Longmore was a member of the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the Royal African Society, and a Fellow of the American Anthropological Association, the Royal Geographical Society and the Royal Commonwealth Society.