biographies

Nyulasy, Francis Armand (1862 - 1934)

M.D., B.S. (Melb.)

Born
1862
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died
7 May, 1934
Occupation
Gynaecologist, Medical practitioner and Obstetrician

Details

Transcription of item written by Dr Colin Macdonald and published in "The Book of Remembrance", The Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, 1956.


FRANCIS ARMAND NYULASY
(1896 - 1899)

Francis Armand Nyulasy, born at Ballarat in 1862, was the son of Charles Nyulasy who had formerly been an artillery lieutenant in the Hungarian Army, and who, in the words of Louis Ossuth "was among the first of the band of patriots who in 1848 took arms against the house of Hapsburg in the glorious combat for right, liberty and their country, and who sacrificed their property and possessions in this cause". Consequent on the defeat of the Hungarians by the combined arms of Austria and Russia, Lieutenant Charles Nyulasy sought refuge as an exile in England, and came to Victoria in 1853 with a letter of introduction to Governor Latrobe. At the time of Frank (Francis) Nyulasy’s birth, the father was a mining engineer. Later the family went to New Zealand for some years, and returning to Melbourne, Frank for a brief period (only a few days states the school record) attended the Melbourne Church of England Grammar School. In 1885 he graduated M.B. at the University of Melbourne, becoming a house surgeon at the Melbourne Hospital under Thomas (later Sir Thomas) Fitzgerald, and for this Irishman’s qualities as a surgeon he always maintained a high opinion. In 1910 his thesis on polypoid endometritis was accepted for the degree of Doctor of Medicine and afterwards was published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in Adelaide on "a rare form of pelvic tumour" attracted the attention of Professor Nekani of Budapest (Secretary of the Hungarian National Medical Association) who invited him to become a regular contributor to the official journal of that body.

In 1896 the Honorary Staff of the Women’s Hospital was enlarged from eight to twelve, and there were eight applications for the four positions vacant on the midwifery side; Nyulasy was elected (by the Hospital subscribers) together with E. Alan Mackay, Taylor Downie and George Cuscaden. The staff then comprised four inpatient surgeons, and four outpatients surgeons, on the infirmary side, and four midwifery surgeons. Nyulasy remained on the staff for only three years and then restricted himself to private practice in Collins Street and Williams Road, Hawksburn, building there an imposing residence which he named "Graeme".

In 1905 the Admiralty appointed him surgeon and agent in Melbourne to the Royal Navy. The duties of this office required attendance on sailors discharged from British warships because of sickness, Nyulasy’s relationship to these men being not only that of surgeon, but also a trustee for them on behalf of the Admiralty. He enjoyed this work, for he was highly appreciative of the British people, understanding their essential magnanimity and the many difficulties in the maintenance of the far-flung empire.

In 1922 Nyulasy went to London where he was greatly pleased to meet Sir Arthur Keith - the famous comparative anatomist and then President of the Royal Society of Medicine - and was elected a Fellow of this Society to which he read a paper on puerperal sepsis.

Nyulasy was a very well informed, cultured man, of an artistic temperament and greatly interested in good literature, a faithful member of the Shakespearean Society, Dickens Fellowship, and the Royal Society of St. George. A keen Shakespearean scholar and critic, both in the purely literary side, as well as in the theatre, some of his published criticisms received favourable notice from recognised authorities abroad. He proved most acceptable as a lecturer on Tennyson whose poetry he greatly admired. He would wax indignant at suggestions made locally impugning the poetical gift of Adam Lindsay Gordon, and during his last illness was busy preparing a paper on this subject.

For many years on the Council of the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, he was President 1914-1918, and was one of the original members of the Big Brother Movement.

He was extremely loyal to the memory of his younger brother, Dr. Arthur John Nyulasy, who for thirteen years was senior gynaecologist to the Perth Hospital. Frank, on repeated occasions in the medical press advocated it was Arthur who first correctly described the cardinal ligaments of the uterus and their attachments had seemingly been overlooked, and Frank enjoyed great satisfaction that Arthur’s work was eventually recognised by men of such calibre as Victor Bonney. These ligaments are variously known as the cardinal ligaments of Kocks, the ligamentum tranversale colli of Mackenrodt, or the retinaculum uteri of Martin.

In memory of this brother he bequeathed to the University of Melbourne £1,000 for the establishment of the Arthur Nyulasy Prize to be awarded to a graduate of not less than one, nor more than three years, standing who proved himself the most competent (a) in knowledge and skill of operative gynaecology or (b) in research work in gynaecology. Whenever the nett income of the bequest reaches £100, six months notice is given by the University of the intention to award the Prize and applications are called for. Candidates desiring to compete on the grounds of knowledge and skill are required to sit for the examination in the subject of gynaecology in Part II of the D.G.O. examination, or for a special examination of a like standard. Candidates desiring to compete on grounds of research work must submit a thesis.

Frank Nyulasy married late in life and had no children; a man of first class intelligence and high ideals, he died on Monday, 7th May, 1934, aged 72 years.

Archival/Heritage Resources

Royal Women's Hospital Archives

  • Book of Remembrance, 1956 - 1975; Royal Women's Hospital Archives [ Details... ].

Prepared by: Robyn Waymouth

Created: 1 August 2006, Last modified: 27 November 2006