Petrovsky, Constantine Constantinovich (1933-1941)

updated March 24, 2014.

Constantine Constantinovich Petrovsky (1952 photo, 2nd from right) pictured with other staff of the Launceston General Hospital, from left: Drs. J.F. Clemente, J.K. O'Reilly and T.G.H. Hog. Petrovsky was to succeed Hog as the hospital's General-Superintendent. Credit: Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania)

b. [n.d.], Sakhalin, Russia. Escape the Revolution to Hong Kong via China. MBBS (HK) December 20, 1938. RAMC (#211623) 1941, promotions: Lieutenant September 30, 1941; Captain September 30, 1942; retired with a gratuity September 1949, final rank: Honorary Major. service: joined in Hong Kong, on the way to Europe, stopped in Singapore; British Field Ambulance Unit; Malaya Section September 30, 1941. Japanese occupation of Singapore, PoW, Changi 1942, transferred to Burma-Thailand Railway Camp "Death Railway" 1942-44; transferred to Hiroshima^[1] August 22, 1944. Port Medical Officer, Italy, Germany, International Refugee Organization, United Nations December 1949 - November 1951. Australia December 1951. Registered to practice Sydney February 1952.  Tasmania. General-Superintendent, Launceston General Hospital 1952-72^[2]. Honor: MBE June 6, 1946.

HONG KONG nlt.1933. HKU 1933-38. Registered to practice Hong Kong January 26, 1939 through EOP. Private practice 1939-41, address: 1/F, #226 Nathan Road, Kowloon 1941. Naturalized British subject (Certificate #O2517) August 5, 1939 (previous nationality: No Nationality). Hong Kong Defense Reserved, Essential Group September 14, 1939; General Group March 7, 1940; discharged with permission from Governor September 2, 1940 (for purpose to join RAMC). Inspector of Schools, October 1, 1940.

Petrovsky's sister [s.n.] and husband Leonard John Benuch, 1953 photo. Credit: Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania).

Siblings: [s.n.] m. Leonard John Benuch (Russian, naturized British subject, Hong Kong manager of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation). [Petrovsky's parents, two sisters and a brother lived in Sydney nlt.1951].

Kathleen Petrovsky, 1969 photo. Credit: The Straits Times.

m. Kathleen Violet Kathleen Maxwell, medical practitioner. Had issues: 1. Alex Petrovsky (attorney at law; principal, Petrovsky Partners, Barristers & Solicitors, Launceston, Tasmania); 2. Nikolai Petrovsky (BMedSc 1979, MBBS 1982 (Tasmania), FAICD 1990, FRACP 1994, PhD (Melbourne) 1998; Professor of Medicine; Director of Endocrinology Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia); 3. Irina Petrovsky (of Evendale).

[1] Petrovsky was sent to undertake slave labor in a coal mine known as "Sanyo POW Camp, Hiroshima #6 Branch Omine-Machi" situated more than 50 kilometers away from Hiroshima. He was mining coal, as usual, on August 6, 1945, when he other inmates while immediately after having been shocked by blast wave saw a column of black smoke coming up like mushroom. They were told by the Japanese guards the next day that everyone in Hiroshima was dead.

[2] Petrovsky was asked to resign in 1959 after a no-confidence vote by the medical staff, with whom he had had long period of disagreement. He was given a second option in lieu of resignation of that to accept either a demotion or dismissal at six months' notice. Petrovsky rallied the support of Professor Roy Douglas Wright (b.1907-d.1990) of University of Melbourne, an eminent scholar in medical science in Australia, and lodged an appeal which was upheld by a magistrate. The ruling that silenced the no-confidence vote did little to resolve the deep-rooted disagreement and it continued to haunt Petrovsky's tenure in the General Hospital. In 1971 allegations of mismanagement of the hospital led to public inquiry that took place in Hobat and Launceston. The inquiry ended on August 6, 1971 when promises were made by all members of the board of management of the hospital, Petrovsky, and A.B. Abbott, the lady superintendent, to submit their resignations. In the month that next followed, Petrovsky was made Assistant Director of Hospital and Medical Services [s.l.].

Selected bibliography: The British Imperial War Museum [internet]. Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania) April 12, 1952, p.3; May 3, 1952, p.3; June 24, 1954, p.4; August 7, 1971, p.3. Flinders University [internet]. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, January 27, 1939, #87; September 15, 1939, #801; March 8, 1940, #286; September 5, 1941, #1062; October 18, 1940, #1146; May 9, 1941, #558. Harper, Tim; Bayly, Christopher, Forgotten Wars: The End of Britain's Asian Empire, Penguin Group, 2007. The (British) National Archives › Naturalisation Certificate: Constantine Constantinovich Petrovsky [internet]. Pierpont, Trevor Sykes, The Petrovsky Feud: Stranger than Fiction, Financial Review, July 5, 1996 [internet]. The Straits Times, June 18, 1969, p.5. Supplement to the London Gazette, Novvember 25, 1941, p.6765; June 6, 1946, p.2736; June 18, 1946, p.3058; September 27, 1949, p.4602. Ube Branch POW Camp (Honshu Japan) By Phillip West [internet]. The University of Melbourne Archives › Sir Roy Douglas Wright Collection [internet].

Gibson, Robert McLean (1897-1935)

updated on July 20, 2013

Pediatrician.

b.1870, Scotland – d. June 30, 1936, Port Said, Egypt. MB, CM October 24, 1896, MD 1900 (Edin.); FRCS (Edin.) 1912. London Missionary Society, medical missionary; sent to Hong Kong 1897. Private hospital, Medical Superintendent, Alice Memorial Hospital 1897-1918. Registered to practice Hong Kong May 6, 1904. Medical Superintendent, Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital 1926-35. HKCMC, Treasurer and Secretary 1909-15; Director of Studies 1902-09; Lecturer in Anatomy 1902-12, Clinical Surgery 1909-12, Physiology 1899-1901, Practice of Medicine 1903-05. Life Member, HKU Court since 1911. Life-long member of BMA. Residence, address 1: #2 Fairview, Robinson Road 1904; address 2: #4 Albany 1921. Retired, left Hong Kong May 4, 1935. Died from heart failure at Port Said [1].  Honor: Gibson Ward, Nethersole Hospital 1935; MBE 1936; R.M. Gibson Medal since 1965 [2].

[1] Gibson died at Port Said on June 30, 1936 while returning from England to Hong Kong where he had planned to live on pension.

[2] In 1965, in honor of Gibson's long and dedicated service, Dr. T.Y. Li of HKU presented the R.M. Gibson Gold Medal for award to the student gaining the best result in Pediatrics.

Selected bibliography: The British Medical Journal, July 18, 1936, p.156, Obituary. The China Mail. April 25, 1935, p.8, Tribute to Work of Dr. Gibson. Dafydd Emrys Evans (1987) Constancy of Purpose, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press. The Hong Kong Daily Press, April 25, 1935, p.7, Tribute to Dr. Gibson; January 3, 1936, p.6, Local Medical Men Honored. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, May 6, 1904, Notice #341. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, July 3, 1936, p.9, Dr. R.M. Gibson. Supplement of the London Gazette, January 1, 1936, p.14.

Addison, Joseph Bartlett (1924-1928)

updated September 10, 2013

b.1875 – d.1928, Seychelles. MRCS (Eng.); LRCP (Lond.). Trained at St. Mary's Hospital, London. Seychelles, Assistant Medical Officer 1907; Chief Medical Officer 1908; act as private secretary and clerk to the Executive Council 1912. Hong Kong 1924. Hong Kong Government., Principal Civil Medical Officer March 1, 1924 – 1928. JP (official) April 11, 1924 – 1928. Legislative Council May 14, 1925 – February 4, 1926. Left Hong Kong due to breakdown of health January 10, 1928. Died 1928, Seychelles (5). Honor: MBE 1918.

[Addison was paid an annual salary of £1,000, rising by £50 per year that followed. There was also a conveyance allowance of $360 a year. He was appointed by the Home Government.]

Selected bibliography: The China Mail, February 29, 1928, p.6, Dr. J.B. Addison, Death at Seychelles. The Hong Kong Daily Press, January 12, 1928, p.6, Departure of Dr. J.B. Addison. The Hong Kong Government Gazette, March 14, 1924, Appt. #132; April 11, 1924, Appt. #195a. Official Website of the Legislative Council, Hong Kong [internet]. The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser, July 4, 1923, p.6. Supplement to the London Gazette, October 4, 1918, p.117766.