Mavis Louisa Freeman (30 January 1907 – 1992) was an Australian bacteriologist and

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

. She assisted Macfarlane Burnet in identifying the source of Q fever.

Early life and education

Mavis Louisa Freeman was born in

Ballarat Ballarat ( ) is a city in the Central Highlands (Victoria), Central Highlands of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Ballarat had a population of 116,201, making it the third largest city in Victoria. Estimated resid ...

, Victoria on 30 January 1907 to Louisa (née Lutzen) and Harry Stanley Freeman. She completed her primary education at Esperance Girls' School,

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

where she was dux of classes III and IV. She then attended

Firbank Girls' Grammar School , motto_translation = She conquers who conquers herself , city = Brighton , state = Victoria , zipcode = 3186 , country = Australia , coordinates = ...

where she was dux of the school in 1924. On leaving school she won a scholarship to Trinity College at the University of Melbourne from which she graduated with a BSc in 1928.

Career

Freeman's first job was at the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research research institute, institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobe ...

where she was employed as a research fellow. Her work included studying

snake venoms Snakes are elongated, limbless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales. Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joi ...

with Charles Kellaway and proteins with biochemist H. F. Holden. In 1934 she won the Victorian Women Graduates' Association Travelling Scholarship and went to London to continue her studies at the Lister Institute. She returned to the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and, in 1939, assisted Macfarlane Burnet in the discovery of the source of Q fever. 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. 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. She completed an MSc at the University of Melbourne in 1950. Freeman died in

Malvern Malvern or Malverne may refer to: Places Australia * Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide * Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne * City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne * Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...

, Victoria in 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Freeman, Mavis 1907 births 1992 deaths People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) Australian bacteriologists Australian biochemists 20th-century Australian women scientists 20th-century biologists 20th-century chemists Women bacteriologists Women biochemists Australian women biologists Australian women chemists People from Ballarat People educated at Firbank Girls' Grammar School