Raphael Cilento

Raphael Cilento

Sir Raphael West Cilento was a notable Australian medical practitioner and public health administrator. He was knighted by King George V in 1935 for his contributions to public service and tropical medicine. He achieved international fame after World War II for his work in aiding refugees with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In July 1945 he was the first civilian doctor to enter Belsen concentration camp.

About Raphael Cilento in brief

Summary Raphael CilentoSir Raphael West Cilento was a notable Australian medical practitioner and public health administrator. He was knighted by King George V in 1935 for his contributions to public service and tropical medicine. He achieved international fame after World War II for his work in aiding refugees with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In July 1945 he was the first civilian doctor to enter Belsen concentration camp. In 1934, Queensland’s Forgan Smith Government set out to create one of the world’s first universally free public health systems. He died on 15 April 1985 in the Brisbane suburb of Oxley and was survived by his wife, Phyllis McGlew, who became a well-known medical writer and writer.

Although he had been married in the Church of England, he was brought up Catholic and was buried with Catholic rites at Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery. In 1918, whilst they were both studying medicine at the University of Adelaide, he became engaged, and on 18 March 1920, they married at St Columba’s Church in Hawthorn, England. They had six children and he set up a medical practice in Tranmere before departing for Malaya in October 1921.