Hamlin, Elinor Catherine (1924 - 2020)

Summary

Catherine Hamlin and her husband Reg, both obstetricians and gynaecologists, moved from Australia in 1958, to set up a school of midwifery for nurses at the Princess Tsehai hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. They pioneered work to assist and eliminate obstetric fistula, and over the following six decades established the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Their work was recognised internationally when Reg was awarded an OBE in 1965, when Catherine was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1983, and when Reg was awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1989.

After Reg died in 1993, Catherine continued to develop the services, training and the Hospital. Her on-going work was recognised internationally, she was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1995, and was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1999 and 2014.

She founded and was patron of The Catherine Hamlin Fistula Foundation, an independent charity established to raise funds and awareness for Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, and to eradicate obstetric fistula.

Details

Chronology

1947 - 1948

Career position - House Surgeon at St Joseph's and St George's Hospitals

1948 - 1953

Career position - Senior Resident Medical Officer, Crown Street Women's Hospital, Sydney

1959 - 1975

Career position - Consulting Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1971

Award - Haile Selassie Humanitarian Prize

1974

Career position - Co-founder of the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1974 - 1992

Career position - Assistant Medical Director, Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1983

Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - For service to gynaecology in developing countries particularly in the field of fistula surgery and for humanitarian service to improving the health dignity and self-esteem of women in Ethiopia

1984

Award - ANZAC Peace Prize

1987

Award - Gold Medal of Merit, Order St Gregory the Great, received from Pope John Paul

1989

Award - Honorary Gold Medal, Royal College of Surgeons, England

1992

Award - Distinguished Service Awards from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

1993 - 1997

Career position - Medical Director at the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

1995

Award - Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) -For service to gynaecology in developing countries particularly in the field of fistula surgery and for humanitarian service to improving the health dignity and self-esteem of women in Ethiopia

1995

Award - Paul Harris Fellowship, Rotary International

1998

Award - Rotary International Award for World Understanding

2001

Award - Centenary Medal - For long and outstanding service to international development in Africa

2004

Award - National Living Treasure of Australia

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

Newspaper Articles

• Veitch, Harriet; Barlass, Tim, 'Gynaecologist named 'a National Living Treasure of Australia' [Obituary: Catherine Hamlin 1924 - 2020]', The Age (2020), https://www.theage.com.au/national/gynaecologist-named-a-national-living-treasure-of-australia-20200319-p54boh.html. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q524423. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/16731910. Details
• 'Hamlin, Catherine (19240124-)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-758089. Details

See also

• Herd, Margaret ed., Who's who in Australia 2002 (Melbourne: Crown Content, 2001), 2020 pp. Details