Kenny, Elizabeth (1880 - 1952)

Elizabeth Kenny developed a new treatment for infantile paralysis (poliomyelitis). Guided by Dr Aeneas McDonnell of Toowoomba, she developed a thorough knowledge of human musculature. [1]

Although Kenny never completed any nursing training or registered as a nurse, she opened a hospital at Clifton, near Toowoomba, in 1913. In 1915 she joined the Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) and completed 12 round sea voyages between England and Australia with the returning wounded. During this time she earned her promotion to Sister, a title she used all her life. [2]

During the 1930s she established clinics in Brisbane with the backing of the State government, but with opposition from the medical profession. In 1940 she moved to the United States of Americia where her methods were widely acclaimed and gradually accepted world wide. Kenny returned to Queensland in 1951 and died in Toowoomba on 30 November 1952.

[1] 200 Australian Women p. 124
[2] ibid

Related Corporate Bodies

• Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) (1903 - 1948)

Related People

• Lawrence, Marjorie Florence (1909 - 1979)

  Marjorie Lawrence used the treatment developed by Sister Elizabeth Kenny when the former contracted poliomyelitis in 1941

Edited Books

• Radi, H. (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press Inc, Sydney, 1988, 268 pp. [ Details... ]

Online Resources

• Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, 'UQFL 354 - Rae W. Dungan collection', in University of Queensland Cybrary, The University of Queensland, http://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer/ms/uqfl354.doc. [ Details... ]
• Fryer Library and Department of Special Collections, University of Queensland, 'UQFL 16 - Elizabeth Kenny Collection', in The University of Queensland Cybrary, The University of Queensland, http://www.library.uq.edu.au/fryer/ms/uqfl16.doc. [ Details... ]

See also

• 'SISTER ELIZABETH KENNY', in Australians, Behind the News, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Boardcasting Corporation, 2002, http://womenaustralia.info/. [ Details... ]
• Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, 'Where are the Women in Australian science?', 22 August 2003, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/wisa/wisa.html. [ Details... ]
• De Vries, Susanna, Great Australian Women: from federation to freedom, HarperCollinsPublishers, Pymble, NSW, 2001, 354 pp. [ Details... ]
• Macklin, Robert, 100 great Australians, Currey O'Neil Ross, South Yarra, Vic., 1983, 248 pp. [ Details... ]