Doctor Konrad Hirschfeld CBE was an Australian medical practitioner and surgeon. He pioneered thoracic surgeries in Australia. He became a university academic, administrator and medical historian.[1]
Born Franz Konrad Saddler Hirschfeld on 26th April 1904 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, Konrad was the third son of Eugen Hirschfeld and Annie Saddler.[2] Konrad attended the Brisbane Normal School and Brisbane Grammar School.[1]
He won a scholarship to attend the University of Queensland completing his first year of a science degree with the intention of pursuing medicine like his father, Eugen Hirschfeld, and eldest brother, Otto Hirschfeld, in 1924. He moved to Melbourne to study medicine at the University of Melbourne where he obtained first class honours in anatomy in 1926. Hirschfeld was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship in 1927. He studied at the London Hospital, and graduated in 1930 with first class honours in physiology and the Gotch Memorial Prize.[1]
He married Brigid Cooney in 1939 at Sydney, New South Wales.[3]
On 24th November 1941, Konrad was commissioned as a medical officer in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF). He was attached to the 2/2nd Australian General Hospital. He resigned his commission on 9th May 1946, following cessation of hostilities.[4]
Hirschfeld was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978.[1]
He passed away, aged 82 years, on 10th March 1987 at Brisbane.[5] He was survived by four daughters. His daughter, Mary Mahoney, also pursued medicine. His daughter, Roisin Goss, was the wife of Queensland’s 34th Premier, Wayne Goss, and gained a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD).[1]
The Marks-Hirschfeld Medical History Museum at the Royal Brisbane Hospital is named in his honour.[1]
Featured German connections: Franz is 19 degrees from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 25 degrees from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 25 degrees from Lucas Cranach, 17 degrees from Stefanie Graf, 17 degrees from Wilhelm Grimm, 20 degrees from Fanny Hensel, 28 degrees from Theodor Heuss, 20 degrees from Alexander Mack, 37 degrees from Carl Miele, 11 degrees from Nathan Rothschild, 22 degrees from Hermann Friedrich Albert von Ihering and 14 degrees from Ferdinand von Zeppelin on our single family tree. Login to see how you relate to 33 million family members.
H > Hirschfeld > Franz Konrad Saddler Hirschfeld
Categories: Australia, Medical Pioneers | Australia, Doctors | 2nd 2nd General Hospital, Australian Army, World War II | Normal School, Brisbane, Queensland | Rhodes Scholars | University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria | Brisbane Grammar School, Spring Hill, Queensland | Commanders of the Order of the British Empire | Australia, Notables in the Public Service and Professions | Notables