From Anarchism to Psychopharmacology: Edward Trautner's Australian Transformation

Abstract

Abstract: Edward Trautner (1890–1978) was a pharmacologist at the University of Melbourne in the 1940s and 50s who did pioneering work on lithium treatment for psychiatric disorders. His unusual past was a topic of great interest among his colleagues, who often creatively embroidered his story in the retelling. This paper introduces Trautner as his colleagues remembered him, and tells the true story of his childhood in Bavaria, his combat experience in World War I, his turn to anarchist politics and literary experiment in the 1920s, his bohemian life in Spain and England in the 1930s, his deportation to Australia in 1940, and his transformation then (at the age of 50) into a leading medical scientist. It examines his apprenticeship as a plant chemist, and the political efforts of his mentor, Professor R.D. 'Pansy' Wright, to protect and foster his genius.