Jean Littlejohn

Jean Littlejohn (3 April 1899 – 27 November 1990) was an Australian surgeon, early practitioner of the developing field of otorhinolaryngology, and pioneer of deafness research. She joined the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne, Australia and maintained a long association with the hospital until her retirement in 1974.

Early life Jean Littlejohn was born on 3 April 1899 in Nelson, New Zealand, the youngest of the five children of Scottish-born William Still Littlejohn and Jean (née Berry). The family moved to Melbourne in 1904 when William Littlejohn was appointed headmaster of Scotch College. Jean was educated at Scotch College's sister school, Presbyterian Ladies' College, where she found both academic and sporting success.

She then and joined the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital as a medical resident. She began private practice in 1924 while continuing to work at the Eye and Ear Hospital, where she was promoted successively to the positions of assistant surgeon in 1929, honorary aural surgeon (the first woman to hold this position) in the same year, and senior surgeon in 1933. The University of Melbourne began offering qualifications in otolaryngology in 1930, and Littlejohn was the first recipient of the university's Diploma of Otolaryngology, in 1933. She was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1935. In 1957 the Eye and Ear Hospital consolidated its deafness research under the umbrella of the Jean Littlejohn Deafness Investigation and Research Unit. On International Women's Day 2025, the University of Melbourne launched the Littlejohn medal to honour "outstanding contributions to knowledge and research across health and medical disciplines".

Personal life and death

Littlejohn lived with her companion, the bookseller Margareta Webber, for over fifty years. In collaboration with Webber, Littlejohn founded the Soroptimist Club of Melbourne in 1948. Littlejohn died on 27 November 1990 in East Melbourne.