Elizabeth Kenny

She had adopted a daughter named Mary Stewart who went on to become one of her top researchers.

Elizabeth Kenny died of Parkinson’s disease on November 30, 1952 in Toowoomba, Queens, Australia.

‘Sister Kenny Memorial and Children’s Playground’ in Townsville was named in her honor.

Elizabeth Kenny was born on September 20, 1880 in Warialda in New South Wales, Australia. Her father was Michael Kenny an Irish farmer settled in Australia, and her mother was Mary Moore and Australian native.

She was taught by her mother at home before she could attend the schools in New South Wales and Queensland.

She became interested in anatomy at the age of 17 when she was being treated for a broken wrist by Dr. Aeneas Mcdonnell in Toowoomba.

From the age of 18 up to her mid-twenties Elizabeth Kenny worked as a bush nurse in the district of Clifton.

She returned to Guyra in New South Wales in 1907 where she received basic nursing training from a midwife.

During her stay in Guyra she became a broker of agricultural produce between the farmers and the markets situated in Brisbane.

She returned to Nobby in 1909 and started working as qualified nurse though she had no accreditation.

In 1911 she opened the ‘St. Canice’s Hospital’ at Clifton with the money earned during her brokerage job in Guyra.

Elizabeth Kenny published her first book titled ‘The Treatment of Infantile Paralysis in The Acute Stage’ in 1937.

She co-authored a book titled ‘The Kenny Concept of Infantile Paralysis and its Treatment’ with Dr. John Pohl which was published in 1943.

Her book titled ‘My Battle and Victory: History of the Discovery of Poliomyelitis as a Systemic Disease’ was published posthumously in 1955.