Person
Benjamin, Louis Reginald Samuel (1892 - 1970)
CBE
- Born
- 30 April 1892
Ayr, Queensland, Australia - Died
- 14 March 1970
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia - Occupation
- Industrial chemist and Technologist
Summary
Louis Benjamin was involved in research into the use of eucalypts for paper production, in particular the soda, sulphite and mechanical processes of pulping wood. He was employed by the Institute of Science and Industry, CSIR and Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd.
As Superintendent of the Australian Newsprint Mills Pty Ltd from 1938, he was responsible for construction and commissioning of the Boyer Newsprint Mill, New Norfolk, Tasmania, the first pulp and paper mill in the world to utilise hardwood to produce newsprint.
The LR Benjamin Medal, the highest medal awarded by Appita since 1971, is named in his honour.
Details
Chronology
- c. 1916 - c. 1917
- Career position - Metallurgist, eastern goldfields
- c. 1916 - c. 1917
- Education - Kalgoorlie School of Mines
- 1918 - 1919
- Career position - Chemistry Department, Perth Technical College [under I.H. Boas]
- 1919 - 1928
- Career position - Institute of Science and Industry (later Council for Scientific and Industrial Research)
- 1928 - 1938
- Career position - Technical superintendent, Pulp and paper-mill operated by Tasmanian Paper Pty Ltd, Kermandie
- 1930 - 1932
- Career position - Superintendent of research and technical control, Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd, Melbourne
- 1932 - 1956
- Career position - General Superintendent, Derwent Valley Paper Co. Pty Ltd, Hobart [formed Australian Newsprint Mills Pty Ltd in 1938]
- 1938 - 1956
- Career position - General Superintendent, Australian Newsprint Mills Pty Ltd
- 1940s
- Career event - Fellow, Royal Australian Chemical Institute
- 1945 - 1960
- Career position - Vice-chairman, Australian Aluminium Production Commission
- 1950 - 1951
- Career position - President, Australian Pulp and Paper Industry Technical Association
- 1956
- Life event - Retired
- 1956
- Award - Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) - Superintendent of the Australian Newspaper Mills
- 1965
- Award - N. W. Jolly Medal, Institute of Foresters of Australia
Related entries
Archival resources
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies
- Louis Reginald Samuel Benjamin - Records, 1918 - 1928; Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Corporate Records and Archives Strategies. Details
Published resources
Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions
- McCarthy, Gavan; Smith, Ailie; Moje, Christine; Rigby, Rebecca, The Study of Australian Eucalypts, eScholarship Research Centre, 2013, http://www.eoas.info/eucalypts/index.html. Details
Book Sections
- Somerville, J. L., 'Benjamin, Louis Reginald Samuel (1892-1970), chemist and technologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 7: 1891 - 1939 A-Ch, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1979), p. 264. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A070263b.htm. Details
Journal Articles
- Benjamin, L. R., 'The challenge of the eucalypts', Appita - Journal of the Australian Pulp and Paper Industry, 13 (3) (1959), 90-103. Details
Resources
- Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q21536358. Details
- 'Benjamin, Louis Reginald (1892-1970)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1463249. Details
See also
- Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_b.html. Details
Gavan McCarthy; Ken McInnes
Created: 20 October 1993, Last modified: 29 May 2024
- Foundation Supporter - Committee to Review Australian Studies in Tertiary Education