Mavis Freeman (scientist)

Mavis Louisa Freeman (30 January 1907 – 1992) was an Australian bacteriologist and biochemist. She assisted Macfarlane Burnet in identifying the source of Q fever.

Mavis Freeman
Freeman in 1940
Born	Mavis Louisa Freeman (1907-01-30)30 January 1907 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died	1992 (aged 84–85) Malvern, Victoria, Australia
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Awards	Victorian Women Graduates' Association Travelling Fellowship, 1934
Scientific career
Institutions	Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Second Australian Military Hospital, Palestine

Early life and education

Mavis Louisa Freeman was born in Ballarat, Victoria on 30 January 1907 to Louisa (née Lutzen) and Harry Stanley Freeman.^[1] She completed her primary education at Esperance Girls' School, Brighton where she was dux of classes III and IV.^[2][3] She then attended Firbank Girls' Grammar School where she was dux of the school in 1924.^[4] On leaving school she won a scholarship to Trinity College^[5] at the University of Melbourne from which she graduated with a BSc in 1928.^[6]

Career

Freeman's first job was at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute where she was employed as a research fellow. Her work included studying snake venoms with Charles Kellaway and proteins with biochemist H. F. Holden.^[7]

In 1934 she won the Victorian Women Graduates' Association Travelling Scholarship and went to London to continue her studies at the Lister Institute.^[8] She returned to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and, in 1939, assisted Macfarlane Burnet in the discovery of the source of Q fever.^[9]

In World War II she was appointed as pathologist to the Second Australian Hospital, A.I.F. in Palestine and was the only woman to serve overseas, other than nurses and masseuses.^[10][11]

Freeman returned to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute after the war but resigned in 1948 and moved to Adelaide to work at the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Research.^[12] She completed an MSc at the University of Melbourne in 1950.^[13][14]

Freeman died in Malvern, Victoria in 1992.^[1]

References

1. "Death certificate: Mavis Louisa Freeman". Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
2. "School Speech Days". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 967. Victoria, Australia. 22 December 1916. p. 5. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Esperance Girls' School". Brighton Southern Cross. Victoria, Australia. 5 January 1918. p. 5. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Firbank Grammar School". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 24, 447. Victoria, Australia. 13 December 1924. p. 19. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Trinity College". The Age. No. 21, 741. Victoria, Australia. 6 December 1924. p. 23. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "The University". The Age. No. 22, 790. Victoria, Australia. 23 April 1928. p. 10. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Fellowship Awarded". The Age. No. 24, 631. Victoria, Australia. 23 March 1934. p. 7. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Women in the world", The Australian Woman's Mirror, 10 (21), The Bulletin Newspaper, 17 April 1934, retrieved 2 October 2022
9. "Q Disease's Days are Numbered: 'G-Men' Hard On Trail". The Herald. No. 19, 260. Victoria, Australia. 8 February 1939. p. 8. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Girl Scientist to Serve Oversea With 2nd A.I.F." The Herald. No. 19, 578. Victoria, Australia. 14 February 1940. p. 4. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "Let's Talk of Interesting People". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 8, no. 16. Australia. 21 September 1940. p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
12. "Freeman, Mavis Louisa". The Australian Women's Register. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
13. Freeman, Mavis (1950), Work submitted for the degree of Master of Science, retrieved 2 October 2022
14. "Record Sept. Roll At Graduation Today". The Herald. No. 22, 865. Victoria, Australia. 4 September 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 2 October 2022 – via National Library of Australia.