John McGarvie Smith

John McGarvie Smith (8 February 1844 – 6 September 1918) was an Australian metallurgist, bacteriologist and benefactor.

Smith took up the study of bacteriology at the suggestion of his friend James Frederick Elliott,

His most important research was in connection with anthrax. Louis Pasteur had discovered a vaccine, which, however, would not keep, and Smith after long experimenting found an effective vaccine which would keep for an indefinite period. This he treated as a business secret for many years, but a few months before his death he handed the formula to representatives of the New South Wales government. Smith also gave £10,000 to endow a 'McGarvie Smith Institute'. While making his investigations Smith travelled extensively in Europe and the United States and visited many laboratories. He was a man of great determination and remarkable personality.

All his life he had a passion for work, but he spared time in his youth to become a good rifle shot. Smith married Adelaide Elizabeth née Hoalls on 7 July 1877, the widow of Daniel Deniehy, who died in 1908. Smith died at his home in the Sydney suburb of Woollahra of influenza. He was buried at the Waverley Cemetery.