Pansy

A Life of Roy Douglas Wright

By: Peter McPhee

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Paperback | 1 August 2025 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Paperback
298 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 15.88 x 1.91

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The first biography of Roy Douglas ('Pansy') Wright (1907-1990)-a brilliant and controversial figure in the history of Australian medicine, universities and civil liberties.

A stirrer and shaker ... a boat-rocker and a confounded nuisance.

Geoffrey Serle

Roy Douglas ('Pansy') Wright was one of the great Australians of the twentieth century.

Born on a hill-country farm in northern Tasmania in 1907, he became an extraordinarily successful medical scientist and a builder of institutions such as the Australian National University, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Clinic and the Howard Florey Institute. He was loved for his brilliant, often ribald, wit, his fierce loyalties and his sympathy for the underdog. He died in 1990, shortly after completing a decade as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne.

Wright was a legendary teacher and much-loved colleague and mentor. However, his ebullient style disguised the private difficulties of a person who was often unhappy and awkward with intimacy. He was also a controversial man. His rivals interpreted his relentless energy in creating medical institutions as megalomania. Others found his blunt personal style abrasive and offensive.

In particular, his championing of Professor Sydney Sparkes Orr-dismissed by the University of Tasmania in 1956 for allegedly having seduced one of his students-embroiled him in a decade of public controversy.

In this delightfully lucid biography, Peter McPhee reveals the many contradictions in this complex and brilliant man.

Industry Reviews

Pansy actually has a rare quality among biographies: it merits re-reading and contemplation for its understated insights into gender and generation in Australia. This is a Kylie Minogue of a book: small but perfectly formed. "The Bulletin""

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