Thomas Watson MacCallum

Thomas Watson MacCallum (27 May 1881 – 2 June 1966) was a Scottish author, philologist and radio broadcaster. He is best known for his English language lessons that were broadcast from the Austrian radio station RAVAG before World War I and in the interwar period. Such was his popularity that he was featured in the lyrics of a song by Hermann Leopoldi, a famous cabaret artist. His pioneering work in radio earned him the moniker "The Uncrowned King of Radio". During a 14-year period from 1925 until 1939, he reached millions of listeners across Europe with his radio broadcasts and helped change the Austrians' perceptions of the British, for which he received an OBE in the 1938 New Year Honours. This meant that he had to leave Austria for a second time and on this occasion took with him his wife Emily Bertha Mayer and daughter Margaret Duncan MacCallum.

He later wrote, "If today I am much poorer after deciding that I could not live under Nazi rule, I have no regrets of having left Vienna when I did. I shall always consider it as one of the wisest steps I have taken."

Excerpt from the Salzburger Volksblatt published in 1921 in German (translated into English):

British children's home in Kleßheim Castle.

Bright children's cheers resound from the large meadow, which stretches in the middle of the wide park in front of the terrace of the summer palace up to the white wall that encloses a former princely residence. Whenever the weather allows, girls and boys from six to fourteen years of age play around in simple but durable and practical home clothes under the leadership of two sisters and the head of the home, Professor MacCallum. And the professor has given up on being a university lecturer and is playing along! No, there really isn't anything lecturer-like about him, the Scottish scholar, who is familiar with Austrian nature through his many years of work at the University of Vienna and the Export Academy. He doesn't seem to us to be the British type, as he is often portrayed. His affection for children is clear in his eyes and his words are kind and caring. He loves the children, they are now his world, and the children, in turn, love him, they cling to him, not just figuratively speaking, but literally like limpets when he is among them. Among his most notable works are The Vienna that's not in the Baedeker for which he produced the English translation, and Englisch lernen ein Vergnügen, a book to help German speakers learn English, which was first published in 1928. All of his books were educational in nature, and many were aimed at children and the young.

BBC After returning to Britain in 1939, MacCallum worked for the BBC. For a short time, he even continued his broadcasts to his fans in Europe via the foreign radio organization.

The bestowal of the O.B.E. upon Professor Thomas MacCallum for his services in fostering cultural relations between Great Britain and Austria, has given great satisfaction to his many Austrian admirers as well as the British colony in Vienna. Professor MacCallum, who is an English lecturer in Vienna, is a frequent broadcaster.

Later life and death On 3 February 1957, Professor MacCallum's wife, Emily Bertha Mayer died in Newbury at the home of his son-in-law. MacCallum continued to live with his daughter and son-in-law and their two sons, David and Thomas until his death in 1966.