Sir Donald Ward Beaven (31 August 1924 – 4 November 2009) was a New Zealand medical researcher in the area of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

treatment and prevention. He commenced full-time teaching and research at the Christchurch School of Medicine in 1960, and was appointed Foundation Professor in 1971. The Beaven Lecture Theatre in the School bears his name. Beaven was appointed a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1989 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1989 were appointments by most of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, and honorary ones to citizens of other countrie ...

, for services to medicine and the community, and a Distinguished Companion of the

New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit () is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for th ...

in the

2005 New Year Honours New Year Honours were granted in the United Kingdom and New Zealand at the start of 2005. Among these in the UK were knighthoods awarded to Mike Tomlinson, the educationalist; Derek Wanless, who led a review of the National Health Service; ...

, for services to persons with diabetes. He accepted re-designation as a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in August 2009 after the restoration of titular honours by the New Zealand government. In March 2009, Beaven was commemorated as one of the

Twelve Local Heroes The ''Twelve Local Heroes'' is a series of bronze bust (sculpture), busts in Christchurch, New Zealand. Sculpted by Mark Whyte, the objective was to commemorate twelve local Christchurch people who were prominent in their respective fields in t ...

, and a bronze bust of him was unveiled outside the

Christchurch Arts Centre The Arts Centre Te Matatiki Toi Ora is a hub for arts, culture, education, creativity and entrepreneurship in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located in the Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival former University of Canterbury, Canterbur ...

. In 1990, he was awarded the

New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal The New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal was a commemorative medal awarded in New Zealand in 1990 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, and was awarded to 3,632 people. Background The New Zealand 1990 Com ...

. An advocate of the

Mediterranean diet The Mediterranean diet is a concept first proposed in 1975 by the American biologist Ancel Keys and chemist Margaret Keys. The diet took inspiration from the eating habits and traditional food typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and s ...

, Beaven helped establish the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

wine industry, planting vineyards and olive groves around

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

and

Banks Peninsula Banks Peninsula () is a rocky peninsula on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand that was formed by two now-extinct volcanoes. It has an area of approximately . It includes two large deep-water harbours — Lyttelton Harbour a ...

. Beaven died fighting a house fire in his

bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

at Little Akaloa on Banks Peninsula. A memorial service for Beaven held in the

Christchurch Town Hall The Christchurch Town Hall, since 2007 formally known as the Christchurch Town Hall of the Performing Arts, opened in 1972, is Christchurch, New Zealand's premier performing arts centre. It is located in the Christchurch Central City, central ...

on 19 December 2009 was attended by nearly 1000 people. At the memorial, the chair of the

Health Research Council of New Zealand The Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) is a Crown agency of the New Zealand Government. It is responsible for managing the government's investment in health research for the public good. The HRC was established under the Health Rese ...

announced that the

Emeritus Professor Sir Donald Ward Beaven Medal ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

for Diabetes Research would be presented to the New Zealand researcher who makes the greatest contribution to diabetes research each year. Beaven's second wife, Gillian, Lady Beaven, died in 2024.

References

External links

Don Beaven Travelling Fellowship
Canterbury Medical Research Foundation
Don Beaven publications
on

PubMed PubMed is an openly accessible, free database which includes primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics. The United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) at the National Institute ...

Profile
Department of Communication Disorders, University of Canterbury

ResearchGate profile {{DEFAULTSORT:Beaven, Don 1924 births 2009 deaths Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Accidental deaths in New Zealand Health professionals from Christchurch University of Otago alumni Academic staff of the University of Otago Harvard Medical School alumni