Felix Cyril Sigismund Dittmer (27 June 1904 – 29 August 1977)Dittmer, Felix Cyril Sigismund (1904–1977)
—

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

. Retrieved 22 January 2015. was an Australian politician.Dittmer, Dr Felix Cyril Sigismund
—

Government of Queensland The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the state Legislative Assembly, with the governo ...

. Retrieved 22 January 2015.

Early life

Felix Cyril Sigismund Dittmer was born on 27 June 1904 in Dugandan,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, the son of Gustav Dittmer and his wife Marie Farris (née Massie). His father was a chemist born in Germany. His primary schooling was at St Mary's Convent School in Bowen and Childers State School. He attended Childers State High School, where he achieved the highest results of any student being dux and winning prizes in all his subjects. He completed his secondary schooling at St Joseph's College, Nudgee in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. He was the first student from the Isis district to be awarded a university scholarship. Later he studied at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

, becoming a doctor. He was an honorary surgeon in

. Dittmer practised in Proserpine (1932–1940) and Brisbane (1940–1943), becoming an

ear, nose and throat Otorhinolaryngology ( , abbreviated ORL and also known as otolaryngology, otolaryngology–head and neck surgery (ORL–H&N or OHNS), or ear, nose, and throat (ENT)) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the surgical an ...

specialist. He enlisted in the

Australian Military Forces The Australian Military Forces (AMF) was the official name of the Army of Australia from 1916 to 1980. This encompassed both the (full-time) "regular army", and the (part-time) forces, variously known during this period as the Militia, the Citizen ...

in August 1943 and served with the

Australian Army Medical Corps The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian colon ...

until February 1946, when he moved to the Army Reserve. While living in North Queensland, Dittmer bought a gold mine in the

Whitsunday Region The Whitsunday Region is a Local government areas of Queensland, local government area located in North Queensland, North Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas with a history extending ...

. He established Dittmer Gold Mines Limited and the town of Dittmer grew up around the mine; the company was liquidated in 1952.

Politics

Dittmer was president of the Graceville branch of the ALP. He first stood for parliament at a 1943

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

by-election in the seat of Oxley. He also stood at the 1944 state election. In 1950, Dittmer was elected to the Legislative Assembly as the

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member for

Mount Gravatt Mount Gravatt is a southern Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb of the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and a prominent hill and lookout within this suburb (). In the , Mount Gravatt had a population of 3,733 people. Geography T ...

; he briefly served as state deputy Labor leader in 1957. He lost his seat in the 1957 state election, but in 1958, he was elected to the

Australian Senate The Senate is the upper house of the Bicameralism, bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the Australian House of Representatives, House of Representatives. The powers, role and composition of the Senate are set out in Chap ...

as a Labor Senator for Queensland. He remained in the Senate until his retirement in 1970, taking effect in 1971.

Later life

Dittmer died in 1977 and is buried in Mount Gravatt Cemetery.Dittmer Felix
— Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search. Retrieved 22 January 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dittmer, Felix 1904 births 1977 deaths People educated at St Joseph's College, Nudgee Military personnel from Queensland Australian Army personnel of World War II Royal Australian Army Medical Corps soldiers Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly Australian Labor Party members of the Parliament of Queensland Australian people of German descent 20th-century Australian politicians Australian otolaryngologists