Person
Cilento, Lady Phyllis Dorothy (1894 - 1987)
- Born
- 13 March 1894
Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia - Died
- 26 July 1987
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia - Occupation
- Author, Educator, Journalist, Medical practitioner and Obstetrician
- Alternative Names
- Medical Mother (Pseudonym)
- Mother M.D. (Pseudonym)
Summary
Phyllis Cilento was a medical practitioner specialising in obstetrics with a passion for educating the public. Through her books and regular columns she became a household name and a leading voice in nutrition and childcare.
Details
In 1931 Cilento established the Mothercraft Association of Queensland. She served as its president until 1946.
She also lectured in mothercraft between 1939-1946 and 1952-1962 at the University of Queensland.
Over her lifetime she published 24 books on family nutrition and childcare and wrote on the same issues in popular newspaper and magazine columns under the pseudonyms "Mother M.D."(1933-1950) and "Medical Mother" (1950 onwards).
Married to medical administrator Sir Raphael West Cilento, she ran her obstetrics clinic adjoined to their property for 36 years.
Chronology
- 1918
- Career position - House surgeon, Adelaide Hospital
- 1918
- Education - Graduated with M.B. B.S. From University of Adelaide
- 1920 - 1921
- Career position - Lady Medical Officer, British Colonial Service, Teluk Intan. Location: Malaysia
- 1922 - 1927
- Career position - Worked in private practice, Rabaul, New Guinea
- c. 1928 - 1933
- Career event - Mothercraft columnist for the Brisbane Daily Mail as Mother M.D.
- 1929
- Career event - President, Queensland Medical Women's Society
- 1931
- Career event - Founded the Mothercraft Association of Queensland
- 1931 - 1946
- Career event - President of the Mothercraft Association of Queensland
- 1933 - 1935
- Career position - Physician to out-patients, the Hospital for Sick Children, Brisbane
- 1933 - 1984?
- Career event - Mothercraft columnist for the Courier-Mail as Mother M.D. and then Medical Mother
- 1935 - 1938
- Career position - Physician to inpatients, the Hospital for Sick Children, Brisbane
- 1939 - 1946
- Career position - Specialist lecturer in mothercraft, University of Queensland
- 1952 - 1962
- Career position - Recommenced duties as specialist lecturer in mothercraft, University of Queensland
- 1978
- Career event - Elected a fellow of the International Academy of Preventive Medicine
- 1980
- Career event - Elected a life member of the Australian Medical Association
- 1981
- Award - Queenslander of the Year
Related entries
Husband
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Morgan, Helen; Smith, Ailie; van den Bosch, Alan, Where are the Women in Australian Science?, Exhibition of the Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, First published 2003 with lists updated regulary edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, 2003, https://eoas.info/exhibitions/wisa/wisa.html. Details
Books
- Cilento, Phyllis, My Life: Lady Cilento (Sydney: Methuen Haynes, 1987), 281 pp. Details
Book Sections
- Mahoney, Mary D., 'Cilento, Phyllis Dorothy (1894-1987), Medical Practitioner' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 17 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2007), pp. 214-215. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/cilento-phyllis-dorothy-12318. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7188537. Details
- VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/161407841. Details
- 'Cilento, Phyllis Dorothy (18940313-19870726)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-472310. Details
See also
- Hooker, Claire, Irresistible Forces: Australian Women in Science (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2004), 215 pp. Details
Rebecca Rigby
Created: 5 January 2012, Last modified: 18 March 2013