John Colquhoun Belisario

A boarder from the Prep School where he was Captain of Old Government House in 1913, John was a School Monitor and a talented sportsman. He received Colours for Athletics as a member of the Senior Team for two years , Cricket where he was a handy bowler and Shooting in 1918. He was awarded House Colours for three years and was Captain of the 3rd XV.

Graduating from Sydney University MB ChM in 1926, he served as resident medical officer at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital from 1926-1928 before pursuing post graduate studies in dermatology in Breslau, Germany.

Having been a militia officer from 1927, John was appointed Lieutenant Colonel in the AIF in 1940 and commanded the 2nd/3rd Casualty Clearing Station in Greece. As a result of his bravery and efficiency in the evacuation of Greece and later Crete whilst under enemy invasion in 1941 he was awarded an Order of the British Empire. John was the consultant dermatologist to the Australian Army throughout the war and promoted to Colonel he then saw service in the Middle East and Port Moresby where he was responsible for the 2nd/5th Australian General Hospital. Elevated to Commander of the British Empire in 1945 he received an Efficiency Decoration in 1946.

On his return to Australia, John returned to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where he was honorary physician (1944-60) and honorary consulting physician (1960-76) concurrently holding similar positions at other Sydney hospitals as well as running a Macquarie Street practice. He furthered his training graduating from Sydney University DDM in 1947 and MD in 1950.

A lecturer at his alma mater 1945-61 he established a training course leading to the Diploma of Dermatological Medicine and his publication “Cancer of the Skin” was a standard text for many years. President of the International Congress on Dermatology in 1952 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1959 and Foundation president of the Dermatological Association of Australia and its successor the Australasian College of Dermatologists in 1966. For his outstanding service to medicine John was awarded the Order of St Michael and St George in 1968. A member of the Royal Sydney Golf Club and a regular attendee at St Mark’s Darling Point, John passed away in 1976.