Abbie, Andrew Arthur (1905 - 1976)

Summary

Andrew Abbie migrated to New South Wales (NSW) with his family in the early 1920s. He enrolled at Sydney University in 1924 and completed his BS in 1929. This lead him to a successful and decorated career in medicine, anthropology and education. Dr Andrew Abbie worked at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (NSW), University College London, The University of Sydney, in the Australian Imperial Force and at the University of Adelaide where he was appointed the Elder chair of anatomy and histology in 1945 and emeritus professor in medicine,1971. Abbie was a foundation and life member of the Anatomical Society of Australia and New Zealand, a life member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and served as Chairman of the South Australian Board of Aboriginal Affairs for 10 years.

Details

In December 1941 Andrew Arthur Abbie served as Captain in the Australian Military Force. He was later transferred to the Australian Imperial Force (1942) and underwent training at the Chemical Warfare Physiology School at the University of Melbourne. In 1943 Abbie was appointed to train medical personal in treating casualties of chemical warfare and then in 1944 was sent to Townsville and Papua with the school to study the physiological effects of chemical warfare agents in tropical conditions. In December of the same year he left the military service and moved to South Australia. As Elder chair of anatomy and histology at the University of Adelaide, Abbie was involved in planning the new medical school building, he was the principal lecturer, and continued his research in neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. In the 1950s his interest moved to the anthropology of Aborigines and he conducted many expeditions to aboriginal communities in South Australia and the Northern Territory. He progressed through the ranks at the University and retired in 1970, after having published over 120 papers and several resource and academic text books. His service to the University of Adelaide are commemorated annually through the Abbie Memorial Lecture in neuro-anatomy and related fields.

Apart from research and academia, Abbie was also heavily involved in many professional societies and committees. He was a foundation and later life member and president of the Anatomical Society of Australia and New Zealand, a life member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, President, Anthropological Society of South Australia, Chairman, South Australian Board of Studies in Physiotherapy, Chairman, South Australian Board of Aboriginal Affairs, and University of Adelaide representative on the South Australian Aboriginal & Historical Relics Advisory Board.

Chronology

c. 1920

Education - Bachelor of Medicine (MB), University of Sydney

c. 1920

Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), University of Sydney

1929

Education - Bachelor of Surgery (BS), University of Sydney

1930 - 1931

Career position - Resident Medical Office, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney

1932 - 1934

Career position - Travelling Fellowship, Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research to work as a Medical Research Fellow at University College, London

1934

Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) completed in London

7 November 1934

Life event - Married Frieda Ruth Heighway at the Moore Theological College Chapel in Newtown, NSW

1935 - 1941

Career position - Senior Lecturer in Anatomy, University of Sydney

1936

Education - Doctor of Medicine (MD), University of Sydney

1940

Career event - The Principles of Anatomy - an undergraduate text book, published in Sydney

1941

Education - Doctor of Science (DSc), University of Sydney

1941

Career event - Human Physiology - an undergraduate textbook, published in Sydney

1941 - 1942

Military service - Captain, Australian Military Forces

1942 - 1944

Military service - Major, Australian Imperial Forces

1945 - 1970

Career position - Elder Chair of Anatomy and Histology, University of Adelaide

1948

Career position - President, Anthropological Society of South Australia

1949

Career position - Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide

1950 - 1952

Career position - Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide

1950 - 1966

Career position - Chairman, South Australian Board of Studies in Physiotherapy

1951

Career position - President, Anthropological Section of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science

1951 - 1966

Career position - Council Chair of the Presbyterian Girl's College in Adelaide

1955 - 1959

Career position - Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine, University of Adelaide

1959

Career position - President, Anthropological Society of South Australia

1963 - 1972

Career position - Chairman, South Australian Board of Aboriginal Affairs

30 December 1963

Life event - Death of first wife

1964

Career position - Acting President of the Anatomical Society of Australia and New Zealand

1965 - 1967

Career position - President, Anatomical Society of Australia and New Zealand

14 February 1967

Life event - Married Audrey Katherine Allen Simpson at the Unitarian Christian Church in Adelaide

1969

Career event - The Original Australians published

1971 - 1976

Career position - Life member of the Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

1971 - 1976

Career position - Emeritus Professor, University of Adelaide

Related entries

Archival resources

Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide

• The Papers of Professor Andrew Arthur Abbie, 1905-76, 1933 - 1974, SR 572.994/A124m; Abbie, Andrew Arthur (1905 - 1976); Barr Smith Library, Special Collections, The University of Adelaide. Details

Published resources

Books

• Cotton, B. C.; and Abbie, A. A., Aboriginal man in South and Central Australia, part 1 (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1966), 220 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Elmsie, Ronald; Nance, Susan, 'Abbie, Andrew Arthur (1905-1976), anatomist and anthropologist, and Frieda Ruth Heighway (1907-1963), gynaecologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 13: 1940 - 1980 A-De, John Ritchie, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1993), pp. 1-2. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130001b.htm. Details

Journal Articles

• Abbie, A. A., 'Sir Grafton Elliot Smith', Bulletin of the Post-Graduate Committee in Medicine, University of Sydney (1949), 101-151. Details
• Abbie, A. A., 'The History of Biology in Australia', Australian Journal of Science, 17 (1) (1954), 1-9. Details
• Abbie, A. A., 'The factor of timing in the emergence of distinctly human characters', Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 98 (1964), 63-71. Details
• Abbie, A. A., 'An examination of the W. L. Crowther collection of skeletal material', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 98 (1964), 53-62. Details
• Crowther, W.E.L.H., 'Introduction to Professor Abbie's Survey of the Aboriginal Collection in the Tasmanian Museum', Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 98 (1964), 63-71. Details
• Kirk, R. L.; Schofield, G. C.; and Gibson, G. T., 'Andrew Arthur Abbie', Medical Journal of Australia, 1977:1 (23) (1977), 862-3. Details
• Simpson, S.; and Gandevia, B., 'Andrew Arthur Abbie', Medical Journal of Australia, 1984:1 (8) (1984), 459-9. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q4756229. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/50155681. Details
• CA 2002, 2 Echelon, Army Headquarters; CA 46, Department of Defence [III], Central Office, 'NAA: B883, NX103428', B883 Second Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1939-1947, National Archives of Australia, RecordSearch, https://RecordSearch.naa.gov.au/scripts/AutoSearch.asp?O=I&Number=5665164. Details
• 'Abbie, A A (19050208-19760722)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-617073. Details

See also

• Pybus, Cassandra, A very secret trade: the dark story of gentlemen collectors in Tasmania (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 2024), 318 pp. https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Cassandra-Pybus-Very-Secret-Trade-9781761066344. Pages 261, 263. Details