John Williamson Legge (3 April 1917 – 29 October 1996), was an Australian scientist and activist.

History

Legge was born at 18 Beaver Street,

East Malvern, Victoria Malvern East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 13 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington Local government areas ...

the only son of (Congregationalist) Rev. G(eorge) A(lexander) Williamson Legge (1871 – 22 March 1931) and his wife Florence Legge, née Laver. He was educated at

Geelong College , motto_translation = Thus one goes to the stars , established = , type = Independent, co-educational, day and boarding, Christian school , denomination = in association with the Uniting ...

and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. The year of his graduating BSc is not known, but he completed 3rd year Chemistry in 1935. He moved to Sydney to work under Dr "Rudi" Lemberg at the

Kolling Institute of Medical Research The Kolling Institute is located in the grounds of the Royal North Shore Hospital in St Leonards, New South Wales, St Leonards, Sydney Australia. The institute, founded in 1920, is the oldest medical research institute in New South Wales. The ...

under a grant from the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

(NH&MRC) studying blood pigment metabolism. By 1939 he was thinking seriously about air-raid precautions, including gas attacks on civilians. From 1942 to 1946 Legge worked with the Australian Chemical Warfare Research & Experimental Section on research into protective clothing and other aspects of defence against chemical warfare attacks in tropical conditions, including mustard gas trials at Townsville, North Brook Island, Proserpine and Mission Beach, involving Australian Defence Force volunteers. Legge and a fellow biochemist (later Prof. Sir)

Hugh Ennor Sir Arnold Hughes "Hugh" Ennor (10 October 1912 – 14 October 1977) was a senior Australian public servant and policymaker. Life and career Ennor was born in Melbourne, the son of a joiner. For schooling, he attended a local Roman Catholic sch ...

designed and oversaw the construction of a stainless-steel temperature-controlled gas chamber. In later life he supported claims for compensation by those volunteers who suffered chronic illness that may been a result of those trials. The 1989 film ''

Keen as Mustard ''Keen as Mustard'' is a documentary film researched and directed by Bridget Goodwin detailing secret experiments conducted during World War II on Australian servicemen volunteers to investigate the effects of, and precautions against, mustard gas w ...

'' documented these events. In 1946 he was contributing articles on science for the Tribune. Legge was granted a

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

which enabled him to spend two years in England, working at the Molteno Institute, Cambridge University under Professor

David Keilin David Keilin FRS (21 March 1887 – 27 February 1963) was a Jewish scientist focusing mainly on entomology. Background and education He was born in Moscow in 1887 and his family returned to Warsaw early in his youth. He did not attend scho ...

. On returning to Australia he was employed by the University of Melbourne as a biochemistry lecturer, later senior lecturer, retiring around 1981.

Politics, science and pacifism

Legge joined the Communist Party in 1936 and helped distribute the ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on the ...

'' at a time when the paper was banned. He was, in September 1949, a charter member of the

Australian Peace Council Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

. He wrote for the magazine ''

Australian Left Review ''Australian Left Review'' was a monthly journal of the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) from 1966 to 1993. It was one of a number of left political journals founded in Australia in the post-war years, including '' Overland'' and ''Arena (first ...

'': *; and *

Family

Legge married Gertrude Guiterman on 29 June 1940. They had a son, John Michael Legge, on 9 January 1942.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legge, John 1917 births 1996 deaths Australian pacifists Australian biochemists University of Melbourne faculty Australian communists People from Malvern, Victoria Scientists from Melbourne Activists from Melbourne University of Melbourne alumni People educated at Geelong College