John Irvine Hunter (24 January 1898 – 10 December 1924)Michael J. Blunt,

, ''

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 ...

'', Vol. 9, MUP, 1983, pp 408–9. Retrieved 13 August 2009 was an Australian professor of

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of morphology concerned with the study of the internal structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old scien ...

Early life and education

Hunter was born in

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

, Victoria, the third son of Henry Hunter, a furniture dealer, and Isabella ''née'' Hodgson. At eight years of age, Hunter contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

and was sent to recuperate with an aunt in

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

, New South Wales, where he stayed for some years afterwards. Hunter received his primary education at Albury Public school (1906–12), and later at the academically selective

Fort Street High School Fort Street High School (FSHS) is a Education in Australia#Government schools, New South Wales government run, Mixed-sex school, co-educational, Selective school (New South Wales), academically selective, secondary school, secondary day school, ...

, Sydney, which he left with a bursary and an exhibition. Thereafter, he read medicine at 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 ...

, despite his poor background that forced him to earn money by coaching, he succeeded in winning practically all available prizes and scholarships. Hunter graduated with first-class honours in 1920. From 1917 to 1920, Hunter was a medical tutor at Wesley College, University of Sydney, and, from 1918 to 1920, he was a demonstrator in anatomy.

Career and later life

During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Hunter enlisted for active service in 1917. He entered into camp, but in his absence his achievements had been recognised both by his fellow students and his teachers, resulting in Hunter being officially ordered to return to his studies.

Professorship

In 1920, Professor Wilson, who had taken great interest in Hunter, resigned the Challis Professorship of Anatomy at Sydney, to become Regius Professor of Anatomy at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. On his suggestion in July 1920, Hunter, aged 22, was appointed associate professor of anatomy. About 12 months later, he left for Europe to pursue his studies further, and, for a year, he acted as an honorary lecturer at Cambridge. Before he had left Australia, Hunter had done "three important researches in utterly different fields of

embryology Embryology (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἔμβρυον, ''embryon'', "the unborn, embryo"; and -λογία, ''-logy, -logia'') is the branch of animal biology that studies the Prenatal development (biology), prenatal development of gametes (sex ...

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...

, and

physiology Physiology (; ) is the science, scientific study of function (biology), functions and mechanism (biology), mechanisms in a life, living system. As a branches of science, subdiscipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ syst ...

. Hunter cleared up many of the difficulties in the interpretation of ovarian pregnancy, in the real significance of the occurrence of neanderthaloid characters in

aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

, and in analyzing the complicated factors of spinal shock following transverse section of the spinal cord". At Cambridge, Hunter became familiar with the methods of leading anatomical schools in Europe and made valuable contributions to the solution of problems raised by the Piltdown skull and Rhodesian remains in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

. Hunter returned to Australia by way of the United States and Canada, where he stayed long enough to give some lectures. The Challis Professorship of Anatomy had, in the meantime, been kept open for him, and he was appointed to that position in December 1922, a few weeks before he reached the age of 25.

Later career

Before leaving Sydney, Hunter had been much interested in the physiological research of Dr. N. D. Royle, and upon his return they researched together. In October 1923, a demonstration of the result of their work was given in the lecture theatre of the department of anatomy, Sydney. On 7 May 1924, the University of Sydney conferred the degree of Doctor of Medicine with First-Class Honours on Hunter, and he also received the University Medal and the Ethel Talbot Prize. In March Dr. William J. Mayo and other representatives of the American College of Surgeons visited Australia, and were so impressed with the work of Drs. Royle and Hunter that they invited them to deliver the Dr. John B. Murphy oration in surgery at New York's clinical congress in October 1924, attended by around 2500 surgeons from all over the world. There, the genius of Hunter was immediately recognised, and the youngest professor of anatomy at any important university became one of the most important figures at this great American congress.

Death

In 1924, Hunter travelled to England with the intention he give a course of three lectures to his former colleagues. He finished his first lecture on 5 December but he became ill shortly afterwards. While travelling to England, Hunter had contracted

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often th ...

and died from the illness at

University College Hospital University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lo ...

on 10 December 1924.

Personal life

Hunter married Hazel Annie McPherson in February 1924. A posthumous son, Irvine John Hunter, was born on 6 September 1925.

Legacy

Portraits by John Longstaff and

William Beckwith McInnes William Beckwith McInnes (18 May 1889 – 9 November 1939) was an Australian portrait painter, winner of the Archibald Prize seven times for his traditional style paintings. He was acting-director at the National Gallery of Victoria and an inst ...

were painted after his death; both hang in the Anderson Stuart building of the University of Sydney. Bronze medallions, sculpted by Rayner Hoff, are held at Wesley College, the university and Fort Street High School.