Person
French, Eric Lancelot (1914 - 2002)
AO
- Born
- 1 June 1914
Jamestown, South Australia, Australia - Died
- 12 February 2002
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Medical scientist, Veterinary scientist and Virologist
Summary
Eric Lancelot French was a virologist who worked in both the human and veterinary disease fields. He was an advocate of tough quarantine and disease control measures to protect Australia's livestock industry and was the first person to isolate and characterise Murray Valley Encephalitis. French was Assistant Chief of the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Division of Animal health from 1968 to 1977 and a researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Medical Research Institute (WEHI) from 1947 to 1958. While at WEHI he worked on Asian flu, Murray Valley Encephalitis, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS or cot death). At CSIRO French established Australia's first laboratory that was dedicated to the study of animal viruses. Over the years he received many honours including honorary membership to the Australian Veterinary Association and to the Australian College of Veterinary Surgeons, honorary doctorates in veterinary science from the universities of Melbourne and Hanover (Germany) and was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO)
Details
Chronology
- 1938 - 1942
- Career position - Senior Laboratory Technician in the Bacteriology Department of the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide
- 1942
- Education - Bachelor of Science (BSc), ?University of Adelaide
- 1942 - 1946
- Career position - Lieutenant in the Australian Army Medical Corps
- 1946
- Career position - Lecturer in Bacteriology, University of Adelaide
- 1947
- Education - Post doctoral studies at the London School of Hygiene
- 1947 - 1958
- Career position - Scientist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Victoria
- 1958
- Career position - Established the first animal virology research lab in Australia at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Animal Health Laboratory in Parkville
- 1968 - 1977
- Career position - Assistant Chief of the CSIRO Division of Animal Health and Officer-in-charge of the Parkville Laboratories
- 1976 - 1977
- Career position - President, Australian Society for Microbiology
- 1977
- Life event - Retired
- 1980
- Award - Doctor of Veterinary Science (DVSc), honoris causa, University of Melbourne
- 1997
- Award - Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) - In recognition of service to scientific research
Related entries
Published resources
Journal Articles
- 'An Eye on the Past: Eric French', Australasian Science, 17 (1) (1996), 64. Details
Newspaper Articles
- Warren, Jenni; French, Greg; Snowdon, Bill, 'Obituaries: Precise and inquiring mind battles diseases', The Age (2004), 9. Details
Resources
- 'French, E L (1914-2002)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-828297. Details
- 'Awarded honorary DVSc, 1980', Honorary degree holders, University of Melbourne, 2023, https://about.unimelb.edu.au/notable-alumni-staff/honorary-degree-holders. Details
Created: 19 September 2006, Last modified: 15 August 2019