Captain Edward Bagwell Purefoy was an Irish officer in the British Army and lepidopterist. He was the first to discover the life cycle of the large copper butterfly and succeeded in establishing a colony of L. d. rutilus at his home in Greenfields, Tipperary. The colony survived from 1918 until shortly before his death. He also discovered the life history of the large blue butterfly whose larvae live in the nest of the ant Myrmica sabuleti.
- Occupation
- army officer, lepidopterist
- Born
- November 25, 1868
- Died
- November 19, 1960
