# Peter MacCallum > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_MacCallum > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Peter_MacCallum.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_MacCallum > Source revision: 1354448232 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) This article is about the Australian oncologist. For the cancer centre commonly called The Peter Mac, see [Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre](/source/Peter_MacCallum_Cancer_Centre). Not to be confused with [Peter McCallum](/source/Peter_McCallum). Sir **Peter MacCallum** (14 July 1885 – 4 March 1974) was a [Scottish](/source/Scotland)-born [Australian](/source/Australian_people) [oncologist](/source/Oncology) and the co-founder and eponym of the [Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre](/source/Peter_MacCallum_Cancer_Centre) in [Melbourne](/source/Melbourne).[1] ## Background and early life Peter MacCallum was born in [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow), [Scotland](/source/Scotland) on 14 July 1885.[2] He was the son of Peter MacCallum, a New Zealander, living at Gairfield House in the [Maryhill](/source/Maryhill) district of Glasgow.[3] The family returned to [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) in his youth and he was raised in [Christchurch](/source/Christchurch), his father's home town. He was sent to work at the age of 12. He was able to return to school and continued his entire education through a series of scholarships and part-time work, including working his way back to the United Kingdom as a [coal trimmer](/source/Coal_trimmer). He eventually obtained an [MB ChB](/source/MB_ChB) back in Scotland at the [University of Edinburgh](/source/University_of_Edinburgh) in 1914, just in time to join the [British Army](/source/British_Army) in France.[2] ## Career During the [First World War](/source/First_World_War), he was awarded the [Military Cross](/source/Military_Cross) and was twice mentioned in dispatches. In 1918, he was badly gassed, and perhaps it was a result of ill health that his postwar career concentrated on pathology and research.[2] In 1924, he was appointed to the Chair of Pathology at the [University of Melbourne](/source/University_of_Melbourne).[2] Typically, he soon directed his energy and concern to one of the greatest medical challenges, the fight against cancer. In 1928, he was appointed to the royal commission into the [Bundaberg tragedy](/source/Bundaberg_tragedy), chaired by [Charles Kellaway](/source/Charles_Kellaway), which concluded that a diphtheria vaccine manufactured by [Commonwealth Serum Laboratories](/source/Commonwealth_Serum_Laboratories) had been contaminated with *[Staph. aureus](/source/Staph._aureus)*.[4] In 1935, he was elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Edinburgh](/source/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh). His proposers were [Anderson Gray McKendrick](/source/Anderson_Gray_McKendrick), [William Frederick Harvey](/source/William_Frederick_Harvey), [Thomas Jones Mackie](/source/Thomas_Jones_Mackie) and [Alfred Joseph Clark](/source/Alfred_Joseph_Clark). In the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War) he served at the rank of [Lieutenant colonel](/source/Lieutenant_colonel_(United_Kingdom)) as the Director of Pathology to the [Australian Army Medical Corps](/source/Australian_Army_Medical_Corps) and from 1941 was the chief co-ordinator of Australian medical personnel.[5] As Chairman of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria from 1946 to 1963,[2] he was influential in the formation of the Victorian Cancer Institute in 1949. The first outpatient clinic opened in 1950 bore his name and the Institute was renamed as the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute - "The Peter Mac" - in his honour in 1986. MacCallum was Chairman of the [Australian Red Cross](/source/Australian_Red_Cross) from 1951 to 1957 and was [knighted](/source/Knight_Bachelor) by [Elizabeth II](/source/Elizabeth_II) in 1953.[6] MacCallum's vision created a cancer centre where humanity, caring service and relentless research share equal value. He believed that nothing but the best was good enough in the treatment of cancer.[7] ## Personal life MacCallum was married and widowed three times. His first marriage in 1919 was to Bella Dytes McIntosh Cross (better known as [Bella MacCallum](/source/Bella_MacCallum)) with whom he had three daughters.[8] His second marriage in 1928 was to Ursula Lillie Grace (died 1941) and together they had a son. His third marriage was to Frieda Maud Davies (died 1953).[5] MacCallum died in [Kew](/source/Kew,_Victoria) on 4 March 1974 at the age of 88.[2] ## References 1. ["Our history"](https://www.petermac.org/about/our-history). *Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre*. 2020. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210121044118/https://www.petermac.org/about/our-history) 21 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 1 June 2021. 1. Guest, J. S. (2000). "Sir Peter MacCallum (1885–1974)". Retrieved 18 August 2025. 1. Glasgow Post Office Directory 1885-6 1. Akers, Harry & Porter, Suzette (2008). ["Bundaberg's Gethsemane: the tragedy of the inoculated children"](https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:152716/UQ_PV_152716.pdf). *Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal*. **20** (7): 261–278. 1. [*Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002*](https://web.archive.org/web/20160304074135/https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf). The Royal Society of Edinburgh. July 2006. ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from [the original](https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp2.pdf) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017. 1. 1 January 1953. Retrieved 27 December 2019. 1. ["Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre"](https://www.historyatwork.com.au/blog/2014/8/27/our-history-peter-maccallum-cancer-centre). *HistoryAtWork*. 2010-04-30. Retrieved 2025-07-28. 1. ["Social Notes"](http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/140731151). *[The Australasian](/source/The_Australasian)*. 26 March 1927. p. 54. Retrieved 31 March 2016. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Peter MacCallum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_MacCallum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_MacCallum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.