Marcus de Laune Faunce
Encyclopedia
Marcus de Laune "Marc" Faunce, CVO
, AM
, OBE
, FRCP
, FRACP
(5 December 1922 – 14 June 2004) was a Canberra
consultant physician
, head of Royal Canberra Hospital
, doctor to five Australian Prime Ministers and six Governors-General of Australia and former Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF.
, Adelaide
. After obtaining his medical qualifications from Adelaide University in 1946 (winning first place in Anatomy and Physiology 1943) he served in the Australian Army Medical Corps as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force
in post-war Japan
, near Hiroshima
. Upon discharge he sailed to England and studied at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School
at Hammersmith Hospital
. He became Senior Registrar at Sydney Hospital
in 1949 and married in 1951 Marjorie Morison, a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, who died in 1995. From 1954 until 1956 Faunce attained further postgraduate skills in respiratory medicine at the Brompton Hospital in London
and later obtained Fellowships of the Royal College of Physicians of London and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
. In 1966 he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians
(being sponsored by Sir Harry Wunderly and Dr Hilary Roche). Faunce and his wife Marjorie moved to Canberra in 1957, where Faunce soon established himself as a consultant physician in private practise and as a part-time salaried specialist with the Commonwealth anti-tuberculosis campaign.
Trainee Bill Burke (now a Canberra respiratory physician) stated: "Ebullient, military in his gait and bearing, [Faunce] was prone to swing onto the ward stepping out to his own loudly-whistled accompaniment of the Colonel Bogey march. He was knowledgeable yet always looking to expand his knowledge, and his visits to the patient's bedside in even the most dire circumstances had a therapeutic effect seldom available in the pharmacopoeia."
Faunce was individually selected to be honorary personal physician to five Prime Ministers (including Gough Whitlam
and Malcolm Fraser
) and six Governors General (including Sir Zelman Cowen
, Sir Ninian Stephen
, and The Hon. Bill Hayden
). Faunce was Prime Minister Harold Holt
's personal physician at the time of the latter's disappearance in the surf at Portsea
; his treatment at that time of Holt's shoulder injury and refusal to prescribe opiates featuring in the 2008 film The Prime Minister is Missing.
In 1959, Faunce and fellow physician Tony Proust founded the Canberra Medical Society, whose meetings were initially held in the Howard Florey lecture theatre of the John Curtin School of Medical Research
, through the courtesy of its Director. Marc served on the ACT Medical Board from 1963–74 and was Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF Medical Directorate from 1976–1980 with the rank of Group Captain
.
Faunce was largely responsible for the creation of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Canberra Hospital
in 1978. He had a great affection for the old Royal Canberra Hospital
on the Acton Peninsula, serving on its Board of Management from 1967–74. Marc protested against its demolition and he was appointed Emeritus Consultant upon its closure in 1993. Faunce was an inspiring teacher and had long been a staunch advocate for a Medical School at the Australian National University
. Marc had a close friendship with Professor Frank Fenner
and was highly respected in the Canberra medical community.
in 1995. For his public service as Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF Medical Directorate he was awarded the OBE in 1969 and made a Member of the Military Division of the Order of Australia
in 1981.
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
, AM
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
, OBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, FRCP
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
, FRACP
Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1938....
(5 December 1922 – 14 June 2004) was a Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
consultant physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, head of Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital was the first hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It opened in 1914 on the Acton Peninsula, as the Canberra Community Hospital. It grew to become the major hospital in Canberra before being closed in 1991 and later demolished in 1997.- Early Years 1912–1939 :In...
, doctor to five Australian Prime Ministers and six Governors-General of Australia and former Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF.
Early medical career
Faunce was educated at St Peter's CollegeSt Peter's College, Adelaide
St Peter's College, , is an independent boy's school in the South Australian capital of Adelaide...
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
. After obtaining his medical qualifications from Adelaide University in 1946 (winning first place in Anatomy and Physiology 1943) he served in the Australian Army Medical Corps as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force
British Commonwealth Occupation Force
The British Commonwealth Occupation Force , was the name of the joint Australian, Canadian, British, Indian and New Zealand military forces in occupied Japan, from 21 February 1946 until the end of occupation in 1952...
in post-war Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, near Hiroshima
Hiroshima
is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshu, the largest island of Japan. It became best known as the first city in history to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon when the United States Army Air Forces dropped an atomic bomb on it at 8:15 A.M...
. Upon discharge he sailed to England and studied at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School
Royal Postgraduate Medical School
The Royal Postgraduate Medical School was an independent medical school, based primarily at Hammersmith Hospital in west London. In 1988, the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and in 1997 became part of the Imperial College School of Medicine.-History:The medical school...
at Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital
Hammersmith Hospital is a major teaching hospital in West London. It is part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and is associated with the Imperial College Faculty of Medicine...
. He became Senior Registrar at Sydney Hospital
Sydney Hospital
Sydney Hospital is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Macquarie Street in the Sydney central business district. It is the oldest hospital in Australia, dating back to 1788, and has been at its current location since 1811. It first received the name Sydney Hospital in 1881.Currently...
in 1949 and married in 1951 Marjorie Morison, a journalist with the Sydney Morning Herald, who died in 1995. From 1954 until 1956 Faunce attained further postgraduate skills in respiratory medicine at the Brompton Hospital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and later obtained Fellowships of the Royal College of Physicians of London and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
Royal Australasian College of Physicians
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians, or RACP, is the organisation responsible for training, educating, and representing over 9,000 physicians and paediatricians in Australia and New Zealand. It was founded in 1938....
. In 1966 he was elected a Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians
American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians is a medical organization in the United States consisting of physicians and non-physician specialists in the field of chest medicine, which includes pulmonology, thoracic surgery, and critical care medicine....
(being sponsored by Sir Harry Wunderly and Dr Hilary Roche). Faunce and his wife Marjorie moved to Canberra in 1957, where Faunce soon established himself as a consultant physician in private practise and as a part-time salaried specialist with the Commonwealth anti-tuberculosis campaign.
Service at Royal Canberra Hospital
During his 35 years in full time practice, Faunce became recognised for his diagnostic skills, for his high standards of professional ethics and his concern for the medical, personal and social needs of his patients.Trainee Bill Burke (now a Canberra respiratory physician) stated: "Ebullient, military in his gait and bearing, [Faunce] was prone to swing onto the ward stepping out to his own loudly-whistled accompaniment of the Colonel Bogey march. He was knowledgeable yet always looking to expand his knowledge, and his visits to the patient's bedside in even the most dire circumstances had a therapeutic effect seldom available in the pharmacopoeia."
Faunce was individually selected to be honorary personal physician to five Prime Ministers (including Gough Whitlam
Gough Whitlam
Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...
and Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
) and six Governors General (including Sir Zelman Cowen
Zelman Cowen
Sir Zelman Cowen, was the 19th Governor-General of Australia. He is currently the oldest living former Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...
, Sir Ninian Stephen
Ninian Stephen
Sir Ninian Martin Stephen, is a retired politician and judge, who served as the 20th Governor-General of Australia and as a Justice in the High Court of Australia.-Early life:...
, and The Hon. Bill Hayden
Bill Hayden
William George "Bill" Hayden AC was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the...
). Faunce was Prime Minister Harold Holt
Harold Holt
Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years...
's personal physician at the time of the latter's disappearance in the surf at Portsea
Portsea
Portsea is an area of the English city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island, within the ceremonial county of Hampshire.The area was originally known as the Common and lay between the town of Portsmouth and the nearby Dockyard. The Common started to be developed at the end of the seventeenth...
; his treatment at that time of Holt's shoulder injury and refusal to prescribe opiates featuring in the 2008 film The Prime Minister is Missing.
In 1959, Faunce and fellow physician Tony Proust founded the Canberra Medical Society, whose meetings were initially held in the Howard Florey lecture theatre of the John Curtin School of Medical Research
John Curtin School of Medical Research
The John Curtin School of Medical Research is a major biomedical research centre in Australia, and part of the Australian National University, Canberra. The school was founded in 1948, as a result of the vision of Australian Nobel Laureate Sir Howard Florey and Prime Minister John Curtin.The Nobel...
, through the courtesy of its Director. Marc served on the ACT Medical Board from 1963–74 and was Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF Medical Directorate from 1976–1980 with the rank of Group Captain
Group Captain
Group captain is a senior commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries. It ranks above wing commander and immediately below air commodore...
.
Faunce was largely responsible for the creation of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital was the first hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It opened in 1914 on the Acton Peninsula, as the Canberra Community Hospital. It grew to become the major hospital in Canberra before being closed in 1991 and later demolished in 1997.- Early Years 1912–1939 :In...
in 1978. He had a great affection for the old Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital
Royal Canberra Hospital was the first hospital in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It opened in 1914 on the Acton Peninsula, as the Canberra Community Hospital. It grew to become the major hospital in Canberra before being closed in 1991 and later demolished in 1997.- Early Years 1912–1939 :In...
on the Acton Peninsula, serving on its Board of Management from 1967–74. Marc protested against its demolition and he was appointed Emeritus Consultant upon its closure in 1993. Faunce was an inspiring teacher and had long been a staunch advocate for a Medical School at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
. Marc had a close friendship with Professor Frank Fenner
Frank Fenner
Frank John Fenner, AC, CMG, MBE, FRS, FAA was an Australian scientist with a distinguished career in the field of virology...
and was highly respected in the Canberra medical community.
Honours
For his service to Australian Prime Ministers and Governors General Faunce was awarded the Commander of the Royal Victorian OrderRoyal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
in 1995. For his public service as Senior Physician Consultant to the RAAF Medical Directorate he was awarded the OBE in 1969 and made a Member of the Military Division of the Order of Australia
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
in 1981.