Frank Macfarlane Burnet

Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, OM AK KBE FRS FAA FRSNZ , usually known as Macfarlane or Mac Burnet, was an Australian virologist best known for his contributions to immunology. He won the Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance and was best known for developing the theory of clonal selection.

Burnet was born in Traralgon, Victoria his father, Frank Burnet, a Scottish emigrant to Australia, was the manager of the Traralgon branch of the Colonial Bank. His mother Hadassah Burnet was the daughter of a middleclass Scottish immigrant, and met his father when Frank was working in the town of Koroit. Frank was 36, andyears older than Hadassah when they married in 1893. The family was socially conservative AngloSaxon Protestant. Frank Macfarlane Burnet was the second of seven children and from childhood was known as Mac. He had an older sister, two younger sisters and three younger brothers. The eldest daughter Doris had a mental disability that consumed most of Hadassahs time and the family saw Doriss condition as an unspoken stigma, discouraging the other children from inviting friends home, lest they come across the eldest daughter. From his early years in Traralgon, Mac enjoyed exploring the environment around him, particularly Traralgon Creek. He first attended a private

Source: Wikipedia